Law and regulation

A San Diego-based debt collector has agreed to pay $675,000 in civil penalties and give up $18 million won in court fights against 4,500 consumers, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Friday.

The European Commission last month drafted another version of its proposed revision of the Payment Services Directive, known as PSD2 in Europe, with a goal of enacting a wider regulation of payments and interchange fees that reflects modern technology, security threats and stakeholders in payments.

OneWest Chief Executive Officer Joseph Otting sent an e-mail to his contacts on Wall Street this week asking for help to discourage bank overseers from holding public hearings on its $3.4 billion takeover by CIT Group.

Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin addressed speculation about a possible presidential bid during a speech to the Wisconsin Bankers Association.

The Senate approved legislation Thursday to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, sending it to President Obama's desk after a months-long battle.

Revolving consumer credit in the U.S. fell in November by the largest amount in a year, according to a report Thursday from the Federal Reserve Board.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro moved swiftly on Thursday to defend pending cuts to the Federal Housing Administration's premiums, rebutting GOP arguments they are premature.

Allan Landon, the White House's pick to fill a vacancy on the Federal Reserve Board, likely faces some challenges ahead during the nomination process, including skepticism over whether he's really a community banker and about a particular transaction a decade ago.

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., was formally named Banking Committee chairman Thursday, returning to the post he held in the last GOP-controlled Senate.

After National Credit Union Administration Chairman Debbie Matz revealed the agency is mulling new encryption standards, a trade association says the regulator should focus on its own steps to "better protect" member "data in its care."

House lawmakers defeated a package of financial services bills on Wednesday, including a measure to again push back part of the Volcker Rule, but approved a bill to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.

President Obama is expected to announce a half-percentage-point reduction in the Federal Housing Administration's annual premium during a housing policy speech Thursday in Phoenix.

WASHINGTON — Two officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have been named into key roles, the agency confirmed Tuesday.

The White House announced Tuesday that it will nominate academic and former community banker Allan Landon to one of the two vacancies on the Federal Reserve Board.

Banks' post-crisis flight to caution has drawn comparisons to low-risk public utilities, but some institutions are seeing opportunities to take new risks again under the watch of new regulation.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Tuesday named Michael Dean as the director of the agency's Atlanta region. He had been serving as acting director of the region since April.

This may be the year that banks finally adapt to the new risk landscape by shaking up their boards, bolstering cybersecurity and increasing vendor management.

This year is a rare chance for lawmakers to actually get something done due to the fact that it isn't an election year. But will anything happen? Bankers are hoping for changes to Dodd-Frank, while regulators are moving forward with other big changes. Following are the policymakers to keep an eye on in 2015.

Mortgage lenders are hoping the new Republican-controlled Congress will be more receptive to making changes to the "qualified mortgage" rule.

With Republicans now controlling both chambers of Congress and signals from Democrats that they are open to alterations, revisions to Dodd-Frank are at the top of the agenda in addition to other subjects, like terrorism insurance and housing finance reform.