Law and regulation

Two federal agencies and 15 states have taken more than 40 actions against foreclosure relief operations, alleging the firms charged distressed borrowers millions of dollars in fees without following through on service.

Lower rates of return would require insurers to charge higher premiums or stop covering loans to borrowers with lower credit scores. (You know, the ones the government wants to help?)

The Department of Veterans Affairs' residual income test would give lenders more confidence to make riskier loans, according to an Urban Institute study.

Federal Reserve stress tests evaluate banks' ability to withstand severely adverse scenarios like the Great Recession. But the next downturn may pose different problems, according to Tony Hughes of Moody's Analytics.

A federal judge has directed regulators to stop blocking a hedge fund from conducting discovery into the government's decision to sweep Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's profits in the coffers of the U.S. Treasury.

A highly anticipated government report due to be released July 31 is expected to say big banks received less of a subsidy from the perception that they are "too big to fail." But it remains uncertain whether that would continue to be true in a future crisis or if market conditions change.

U.S. regulators are poised to label MetLife a potential threat to the financial system, subjecting the insurer to oversight by the Federal Reserve, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Independent mortgage lenders are concerned that regulators will use the report as an excuse to raise minimum net worth requirements for smaller lenders.

As the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City prepares to host next month's annual gathering of central bankers in Wyoming, seasoned Fed watchers from the financial markets, including the chief U.S. economists of the biggest American banks, aren't being invited, according to past participants.

Between the proposed virtual currency regulations in New York and those already established in Texas, the future of Bitcoin would be brighter if more states follow the Lone Star State's example, says Jacob Farber, senior counsel for Perkins Coie LLP.

Advocates blame the securitization-financed, institutional-scale landlords for astronomical rents and poor maintenance and call for Congressional hearings and government oversight.

Most big banks have reported lower revenue for the second quarter, the downside of trying to beef up loans in a hotly competitive, low-rate lending market. Earnings reports at BB&T and SunTrust shed light on the problems of yield and margin that lie below the surface throughout the industry and threaten growth prospects.

Top lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee debated the value of the Dodd-Frank Act in dueling reports on Monday, commemorating the financial reform law's fourth anniversary.

As the Dodd-Frank law turns four years old, policymakers appear increasingly willing to revisit a key requirement that says banks with $50 billion of assets are systemically risky.

Recent calls in Congress to take a closer look at the quasi-governmental Farm Credit System and its regulator have pleased bankers, who want to bring attention to their complaints of unfair competition.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Monday that it is accepting consumer complaints on prepaid cards and other non-bank products such as credit repair services and pawnshop loans.

SunTrust Banks is planning to sell $2.1 billion in government-guaranteed, performing residential mortgages this quarter, after selling $325 million last quarter, to meet proposed Basel III regulatory liquidity coverage ratios.

Dodd-Frank encourages the pursuit of financial stability at the expense of economic growth. Congress can fix the problem by amending the law so that regulators are required to balance both goals, writes Paul H. Kupiec of the American Enterprise Institute.

Decisions about how to apply U.S. swaps trading rules abroad should be based less on fears of risk to the financial system and more on considerations of market integrity, according to attorney Timothy Karpoff.

Supporters of Bitcoin and other digital currencies have created a trade association called the Chamber of Digital Commerce to make their voices heard in Washington.