Law and regulation

Once again, the Office of Management and Budget's estimates of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. costs are out of step with the FDIC's own projections, and appear out of step with reality.

While the budget was once again focused on other issues than financial services, it provided an update on the White House's priorities as well as a prediction that the FHA's fortunes will soon improve.

Citadel EFT, a credit card processing firm, announced March 4 that it is exploring ways to allow state-licensed marijuana businesses to accept electronic payments from their customers.

Citadel EFT, a credit card processing firm, announced Tuesday that it is exploring ways to allow state-licensed marijuana businesses to accept electronic payments from their customers.

A group of major banks have agreed to collaborate on a centralized know-your-customer registry with the financial messaging service Swift.

Policymakers should focus less on the government's retreat from the mortgage market and more on creating the kind of investment environment needed to attract significant private capital.

EBay Inc. Director Marc Andreessen struck back at activist investor Carl Icahn, who has accused the venture capitalist of conflicts of interest for his role in the company's sale of videoconferencing service Skype.

Charles Taylor, a senior official at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, said certain highly complex branches of foreign-owned institutions are being subjected to aspects of the agency's "heightened expectations" program.

Rules enacted last year appear to be steadily forcing banks to exit the mortgage servicing business, transferring such rights to nonbanks. The situation is stoking fears on Capitol Hill and elsewhere that regulators went too far.

More credit card companies are offering free credit scores to their customers as they look for ways to distinguish their products from those of their rivals.

WASHINGTON -- Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Narayana Kocherlakota will become the next chair of the Financial Services Policy Committee starting on March 17.

Regulators continue to make Bank Secrecy Act compliance one of their top priorities, according to newly available information on enforcement actions.

What is different postcrisis is that the actions of a minority of bankers have saddled the finance sector with a greedy, ethics-challenged image that may hinder recruiting the best and brightest talent.

Federal regulators are shining an increasingly harsh light on the debt collections practices of banks and third-party agencies, forcing many to drastically alter the ways in which they interact with delinquent consumers. American Banker outlines the changes underway and how they may trickle down to collections efforts around the nation.

Mary Miller, the acting Deputy Treasury Secretary, said regulators should coordinate and consistently apply tougher rules on financial institutions as they implement post-crisis reforms.

The GSEs reported big profits for 2013 but even the companies' executives question the sustainability of those earnings.

Bruce Berkowitz, the money manager battling the U.S. government over the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is calling on the boards of the mortgage-finance giants to build capital instead of turning over their profits to the Treasury now that they've returned to profitability.

Citigroup Inc. (C), the third-biggest U.S. bank, said its Banamex USA unit received grand jury subpoenas related to compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and federal anti-money-laundering requirements.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is getting serious about getting to know its customers.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. received a subpoena regarding the return rate for its payment-processor clients from the U.S. Department of Justice and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.