Law and regulation

Atlantic Coast Financial in Jacksonville, Fla., has been released from an enforcement action that required it to improve its capital ratios.

The sweeping reforms passed in 2010 didn't bring community banks to the brink of extinction. Rather, their numbers have dwindled because of the impact of economies of scale and dormant de novo banking activity.

A growing lack of transparency between some businesses and their banking service providers threatens our ability to effectively manage money laundering and terrorist financing risk.

The financial industry and the Federal Reserve are finally on the same page about the U.S. payment system's need for speed. But achieving consensus about what the new system should look like remains a tall order.

It took a decade and a government mandate for the U.K. banking industry to develop a set of rails to transfer funds from one bank account to another in seconds.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an enforcement action against a debt collection agency that allegedly threatened borrowers with criminal prosecution and jail time if they failed to pay extra fees for writing bounced checks.

Bank of America is asking the Justices to overturn lower-court rulings that mortgage loans with a secondary lien on a debtor's asset can be "stripped down" to zero when the collateral is completely underwater. The decision could affect an even wider range of second liens.

Mel Watt, the former North Carolina lawmaker, has earned praise for his cautious approach to guiding the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But critics say he is making it even more difficult to craft a system without them.

Not only do the FDIC's limitations on brokered deposits curtail bank earnings, they deny banks the ability to use brokered deposits to meet community lending needs.

The CFPB's proposed reforms for payday and other high-cost loans are both welcome and long overdue. But there are two ways the agency can further improve future requirements.

Fedcoin could have a lot of benefits, such as helping unbanked buy goods and pay bills online. But about those "know-your-customer" risks....

Large mortgage servicers continued to shed delinquencies as overall loan performance improved in the fourth quarter, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Friday.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, unveiled legislation Friday that would require the banking agencies to review Dodd-Frank Act rules as part of a mandated process to assess the relevance of financial rules.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including thoughts on Wall Street's dwindling number of high-powered women and the merits and drawbacks of the CFPB's consumer complaint database.

Law firms, compliance specialists, lobbyists and even startups are all trying to get a piece of the burgeoning billion-dollar industry aimed at navigating, modifying or complying with the Volcker Rule.

The recent history of bankruptcy law suggests there's a way to provide relief to borrowers overwhelmed by student loans while minimizing concerns about moral hazard.

A long-awaited bill to enhance cybersecurity information sharing has taken a major step forward.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's plans for revamping payday lending set off a fierce debate Thursday over whether the agency had gone too far or not far enough, proving that this is likely to be one the trickiest rulemakings the agency will ever attempt.

The Securities and Exchange Commission just gave unregistered banks a way to quickly raise capital at a fortuitous time — and marketplace lending platforms a way to reclaim their peer-to-peer roots.

President Obama lauded the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Thursday for cracking down on high interest rate, short-term loans while defending the agency against attempts to defang it.