Law and regulation

QR codes, which are commonly used in mobile wallets to link to a consumer's payment account, can just as easily link to phishing sites, malware and other nasty surprises.

Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday suggested policymakers could begin to lift interest rates roughly six months after the central bank winds down its bond buying program this fall — a timeline that pointed to spring of 2015.

Regulators are laser-focused on compliance, particularly when reviewing merger applications. Associated, recently freed from an enforcement action, could use its clean bill of health to woo sellers.

Consumer advocates clashed with representatives of the data broker industry about whether to regulate certain kinds of credit scores and other data that may fall in between the cracks of existing laws.

Discover Financial Services awarded Chief Executive Officer David Nelms a 2013 cash bonus that was 38 percent less than the previous year.

This behind-the-scenes attempt to shut down legal tribal businesses represents a total departure from more than a century of respect for, and engagement with, tribal governments as partners and co-regulators on issues ranging from law enforcement to economic development to education.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday took yet another step in unwinding its bond buying program, paring it to $55 billion.

Benjamin Lawsky, the head of New York's Department of Financial Services, on Wednesday called for regulators to hold individuals responsible for recent industry scandals. He also warned that his agency may ban some banks from certain businesses over money-laundering violations.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated a written agreement with Remer Bancorp. in Minnesota.

Operation Choke Point prosecutors were poised to resolve their first lawsuit against a bank, but then they ran into a federal judge in North Carolina with a fondness for citing "The Sopranos" and a deep skepticism of financial services and the settlement deal.

International Bitcoin businesses have been sizing up the African market for some time, but they face massive regulatory hurdles throughout much of the continent.

Details in recent legislation unveiled by Sens. Tim Johnson and Mike Crapo are stoking fresh concerns among Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders now embroiled in lawsuits over their share of profits from the mortgage giants.

The organization that runs the automated clearing house network wants to phase in same-day payments in three stages, but backers of a speedier system say the plan -- the second such effort in two years -- still is not enough.

Banks and credit unions are more worried about regulatory and risk management pressures than they were a year ago, according to a new report from Wolters Kluwer Financial Services.

Recent guidance from the Justice Department and Treasury was intended to clarify federal policy. Policy statements, however well meaning, do not provide true legal protection. Only legislation can do that.

Treasury's Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group will include a member of the virtual-currency community to help make regulations "better informed and more effective," David S. Cohen, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said today.

Virtual currencies will benefit from government oversight that lends credibility to the market, according to the U.S. Treasury Department's top official targeting money laundering.

The settlement monitor gave the banks credit for $20 billion in relief — less than half the total provided, since only partial credit was given for breaks other than principal reduction.

Most banks and payment processors are in no hurry to help marijuana sellers accept credit card payments where the substance can be legally sold, despite a clear opportunity to modernize what is largely a cash-based market.

The bill released by Sens. Tim Johnson and Mike Crapo would create a reinsurance fund to recoup losses on securities, establish a common securitization platform for the secondary mortgage market and open access to the secondary market for smaller lenders through a cooperative.