Law and regulation

Any bill that does not return with provisions reinstating affordable housing goals and lowering down payment requirements is still a failure, writes the head of the National Urban League.

The Senate Banking Committee passed major legislation to overhaul the housing finance system on Thursday.

Cal-Bay International is developing a specialized prepaid and loyalty card for licensed marijuana dispensaries.

Today's harsh regulatory environment is sapping community banks of the time, money and staffers they previously dedicated to financial literacy efforts.

The dim prospects for Congress doing anything to overhaul the system dominated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac leave a host of big questions about what happens to the mortgage sector going forward.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley reiterated calls Wednesday for the Federal Housing Finance Agency to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to offer principal reductions to distressed borrowers and to participate in nonprofit home buyback programs.

Midwestern community banks are in their best financial condition since early 2009, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said in a May 13 report.

Kennebec Savings Bank has a 19th century charter, but it is poised for a complex conversion to deal with modern challenges like activists investors, M&A pressures and even Basel III.

Canada's banking regulator said it will review candidates for senior management positions at financial institutions before they're hired.

Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry told a room full of state commissioners Wednesday that regulators need to "step up their game" rather than get caught up in competition between state and federal agencies.

Banks should view the recent influx of regulations on small-dollar credit loans as a chance to develop products that are at once profitable and safe for consumers.

Associated Banc-Corp (ASBC) in Green Bay, Wis., has been hit with a $500,000 fine by regulators for deficiencies in its anti-money laundering compliance procedures.

Green Tree's bad report card comes as regulators and lawmakers are scrutinizing nonbank servicers that have aggressively purchased mortgage servicing rights from banks.

By strengthening direct consumer oversight, Bitcoin may shift consumer protection from law and regulation to reputation and trust, and even to mathematical proof of good service.

Negotiations between industry, consumer groups and universities on U.S. rules for banking services aimed at college students have stalled over a Department of Education proposal to ban most account fees.

Student loan company Sallie Mae has agreed to pay approximately $97 million to settle accusations by the Justice Department that it overcharged certain members of the military and by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that it misled consumers about late fees.

Discover's Pulse network and MasterCard have agreed to allow card-issuing banks using both networks to use MasterCard's technology to route EMV debit card transactions.

The government-sponsored enterprises just went a long way toward encouraging lenders to make more loans to borrowers with lower credit scores.

In his account of the financial crisis, former Treasury Secretary and New York Fed President Tim Geithner offers a full-throated defense of his fight to bail out Washington Mutual's bondholders and protect Citigroup's bid to take over Wachovia.

The Federal Housing Administration gave more details Tuesday about a program to reward borrowers who get counseling and a quality assurance initiative meant to ease lenders' fears about accommodating riskier borrowers.