Law and regulation

WASHINGTON — House Republicans reintroduced several hot-button bills this week, helping to set the stage for some of the political fights to come later in the year.

Michael Stegman, a top housing policy adviser, urged regulators on Thursday to bring more private capital into the market, even in the absence of legislative momentum.

FCB Financial Holdings in Weston, Fla., has terminated its loss-share agreements with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Banks process billions of dollars in international remittances, and the business is growing. But complex competing forces — namely anti-laundering rules and pressure from humanitarian groups — make the decision to stay in the business a difficult one.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency won't keep renewing initiatives like the Home Affordable Refinance Program in perpetuity, even if it is extended again before it expires in December, Director Mel Watt said Wednesday.

Loan demand continues to increase across the country, even though some economic sectors are still struggling, according to a report released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve Board.

Republicans are working to craft a Dodd-Frank regulatory relief bill this spring, but pushback on cost-benefit analysis mandates could derail the process.

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors wants Congress to adopt a formal community bank definition, based on qualitative factors such as local governance structure and business models.

The Financial Stability Board’s proposed capital and long-term debt requirements would only go part of the way toward ending the risk of government bailouts. If regulators really want to get rid of too big to fail, they need to deal with over-the-counter derivatives market.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, countering criticism from members of Congress, said the central bank is trying to avoid being too cozy with the Wall Street firms it supervises and wants to ensure that regulators aren't afraid to confront the financial industry.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray said a review of its "qualified mortgage" rule will allow enough time to consider changes if lawmakers fail to make progress on housing finance before a key deadline.

The paper by a consultant with the Office of Financial Research said that projected losses in the 2013 and 2014 tests were "nearly perfectly correlated," suggesting that the tests have become "less informative."

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals today revived the National Credit Union Administration's suit against Barclays Capital that claims the bank misrepresented more than $555 in mortgage-backed securities that led to the failure of two corporate credit unions.

California assemblyman Matt Dababneh, D-Encino, has proposed AB 1326, a bill that provides guidelines for any individual or business that wants to start using virtual currency.

There was plenty for banks to be encouraged about in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s most recent Quarterly Banking Profile, which reported comprehensive industry earnings for the fourth quarter and all of 2014. Community bank lending is showing steady growth, capital levels keep rising and the FDIC's insurance reserves are stabilizing. But the numbers also contained worrisome signs. Here are key takeaways from the report.

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to a $50.4 million settlement with the Justice Department for robo-signing documents sent to homeowners in bankruptcy and for related abuses.

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to a $50.4 million settlement with the Justice Department for robo-signing documents sent to homeowners in bankruptcy and for related abuses.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency released a set of new rules for the sale of troubled mortgages by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

There should be little debate as to whether the U.S. payment system is falling behind the rest of the world. Great Britain and others lead the world in real time payment options at affordable prices to consumers, merchants and other payment stakeholders.

Though stress tests are widely viewed as a successful and critical exercise, there are growing concerns that regulators — and the banks themselves — may have become too reliant on them, overshadowing other aspects of the supervisory process.