Law and regulation

Federal regulators on Tuesday pushed back against the perception that they are cracking down harder on Bank Secrecy Act violations, saying they have not made recent changes to the rules or how they enforce them.

WASHINGTON — House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, announced a vote for Thursday of 11 bills aimed at lessening regulatory burden on banks by changing aspects of the Dodd-Frank Act and associated regulations.

While many small banks are hoping Congress will grant regulatory relief this year, mutual institutions are seeking two specific changes they hope can bolster their struggling business.

M&T Bank and Hudson City Bancorp plan to mail ballots this week to shareholders asking for approval of the companies' planned merger.

Bank regulators rejected three foreign banking organizations' resolution plans — so-called "living wills" — that were submitted last year, finding "shortcomings" and ordering the institutions to make certain improvements when they resubmit their plans this year.

Regulatory approval of Primary Bank in New Hampshire does not make a trend, but observers are hopeful it signals a more promising near future for the chartering of new banks.

An employee's careless tweet or Facebook status update can pose big risks to financial firms, but social media is still a necessary tool for engaging with younger customers.

A loose coalition of regional banks pushing to change a key Dodd-Frank Act provision has launched a formal organization.

Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker laid out the framework Friday for a proposal to consolidate many of the duties of the various U.S. financial regulatory authorities, a move that he said would improve oversight and financial stability.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including the best way to instill ethical culture and what the U.S. can learn from foreign countries' efforts to reach the unbanked.

A new report from the Office of Financial Research says that current stock valuations show some signs of an asset bubble that could put the financial system at risk if — or when — it bursts.

Citigroup's failure to pay 24,000 people owed money as part of a settlement with the government over foreclosure abuses has prompted Maxine Waters, the senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, to call for an investigation into whether banks missed other borrowers.

The CFPB wants to expand banks' data reporting requirements under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. But this would impose even greater costs upon local financial institutions that are already overburdened by regulation.

A U.S. District Court judge has dismissed a challenge to JPMorgan Chase's $13 billion settlement with the Justice Department.

Bank of New York Mellon will pay $714 million to settle allegations by the U.S. and New York state that it defrauded clients in foreign-exchange transactions for as long as a decade.

Regulators pressed for more flexibility when it comes to stress tests, among other things, as lawmakers consider changes to the Dodd-Frank Act.

Four House lawmakers announced Thursday that they had formed a bipartisan group to focus on "the new and innovative technologies in the payments industry."

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a contentious policy Thursday allowing customers to describe their banking experiences more fully on the agency's complaint portal.

Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen acknowledged Wednesday that there was little the central bank could directly do to change the culture at big banks caught up in market manipulation and other scandals. She also defended the Fed against calls to change its structure.

As lawmakers consider federal notification and information-sharing measures, a state official expressed jurisdictional concerns about creating national standards.