Law and regulation

A court-imposed deadline for American Express to negotiate a fix to its merchant rules with the Department of Justice is about three weeks away. Odds of a deal are said to be low, heightening uncertainty — and fueling debate — about how the showdown will affect the future of the credit card business.

The Bank of England will research whether issuing a digital currency such as Bitcoin would help it achieve its monetary policy, financial stability and regulatory goals.

The Obama administration's proposed bank tax would apply to all liabilities of large financial institutions — including their deposits. It's bad policy to tax the funding that banks use to make loans to consumers and businesses.

The Massachusetts senator recently argued that community banks have little need for regulatory relief. But a closer look at recent FDIC data shows that the health of small banks has taken a turn for the worse in the aftermath of Dodd-Frank.

CIT's John Thain and OneWest's James Otting, scheduled to speak today at a public hearing on their $3.4 billion M&A deal, will face complaints from community activists that they owe the public more after receiving substantial government help during the financial crisis.

BB&T has received subpoenas from the Justice Department tied to a probe of the Winston-Salem, N.C., company's FHA lending.

WASHINGTON — President Obama on Wednesday formally signed off on the creation of a national intelligence center to share information about cyber threats.

Republican lawmakers said Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen's meetings with executive-branch officials and liberal groups undercut the Fed's claim that a congressional audit would harm its independence.

A senior regulatory official on Wednesday continued the alarm bell over the brisk growth in auto lending, suggesting that some lending terms could be setting up banks for trouble.

New York could soon start holding bank executives personally responsible for their institutions' anti-money-laundering controls, the state's top financial regulator said Wednesday.

Banks would likely not see an immediate effect from the Federal Communications Commission's open Internet plan, but experts say it could prevent future discriminatory moves by carriers that want to compete more in offering financial services.

By prosecuting executives responsible for banks' misdeeds, the DOJ can curtail illegal activity and restore public trust in big banks — and in the law itself.

Congress should end Puerto Rico's exclusion from federal bankruptcy protection — but it's unfair to leave the territory's existing creditors in the lurch.

Capital One has received requests for information from federal regulators about its anti-money-laundering program and check casher clients, as authorities lean on banks to do a more thorough job policing their customers — and their customers' customers.

During an unusually aggressive bout of questioning for Yellen, particularly from a lawmaker generally regarded as supportive of the Fed chair, Warren questioned comments made by Fed General Counsel Scott Alvarez last year raising concerns with aspects of the financial reform law.

U.S. Century Bank inDoral, Fla., has received regulatory approval for its plan to raise $65 million in capital, according to a news report.

Community bank earnings surged 28% to $4.8 billion during the fourth quarter, compared to a 7.3% decline for the industry as a whole, according to a report released Tuesday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

WASHINGTON — An increase in litigation costs at a few large banks and lower noninterest income led to a year-over-year decline in earnings, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Tuesday.

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether the world's biggest banks manipulated prices of precious metals such as silver and gold, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The unfortunate reality is that those who most need credit counseling help are also the hardest to reach. In a Q&A, the agency's financial literacy honcho, Gail Hillebrand, talks about efforts to empower the vast swath of American who aren't terribly savvy.