Law and regulation

General Electric's plan to sell most of its financing arm has been hailed as a sign that financial reform is successfully persuading "too big to fail" firms to break up. But the end of GE Capital just means that the conglomerates left standing are even more homogeneous and risk-prone.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board issued a proposal that would make a technical change to its rules governing the calculation of interest payments on excess cash reserves held at regional Fed banks in order to more seamlessly raise overall interest rates in the future.

As Basel III gets ready to turn five years old this summer, recently appointed Basel Committee secretary general William Coen is taking the necessary step of ensuring that new capital ratio, liquidity standard and leverage ratio rules work well together.

The Banking Committee is working to craft a bipartisan deal on regulatory relief, but if those efforts stall it's possible banking provisions could pop up again as part of key spending and fiscal measures later this year.

The cost of complying with New York State's proposed BitLicense regulations would wipe out many smaller digital currency businesses. But there is a middle ground: placing those businesses under the supervision of a self-regulating incubator that would help them develop robust yet affordable compliance programs.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including thoughts on regulatory complexity, Jamie Dimon's defense of the megabank model, and how vulnerable banks really are to tech startups.

Two House Financial Services subcommittee chairmen are urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to delay enforcement of a new disclosure regime due to take effect this summer until Jan. 1.

General Electric's decision to sell most of its financial assets marks the most prominent victory in regulators' quest to incentivize breakups of large conglomerates. But it may turn out to be a one-off event.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and from our social media platforms.

While having direct access to the U.K.’s real-time transaction network might not lower costs for non-banks, it will allow providers to make their own risk decisions.

The dialogue comes as the central bank is mulling a potentially momentous application by an upstart credit union that hopes to serve the marijuana industry.

President Obama's nomination of a Allan Landon, a former community banker, to fill one of two vacant seats on the Federal Reserve Board is in danger of withering on the vine as a rapidly closing legislative window, potential parliamentary issues and other concerns are conspiring to significantly slow the process.

JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon tried to defend his bank's size and scope by suggesting that community banks are just as vulnerable in a crisis. But he succeeded only in proving that Wall Street firms will make the same mistakes all over again unless the government takes steps to disincentivize their risky behavior.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board finalized a rule Thursday that could spur small bank deals by expanding the number of bank holding companies that qualify for an exception allowing them to carry more debt.

WASHINGTON — The House is slated to vote on a host of regulatory relief bills next week when Congress returns from its spring break.

Top Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee are asking federal regulators to cease all activity related to the Justice Department's "Operation Choke Point" and any related investigations.

WASHINGTON — Mortgage lender RMK Financial Corp. is facing a $250,000 fine by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on grounds that it used deceptive advertising.

Bank regulators plan to release their self-assessment tool later this quarter to gauge institutions' cyber readiness, but many see it as sign of more prescriptive measures down the road.

A group of community lenders is calling on the Treasury Department to establish reserves to capitalize a new cash window in case Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are dismantled.

Merchants argue that Fed policy allows banks to overcharge stores for debit-card swipe fees, resulting in higher prices for consumers. But the revenue banks earn on interchange fees benefits all Americans, since financial institutions invest a portion of it in developing security technologies to protect consumer data.