Law and regulation

In the FDIC's fourth quarter earnings report, the agency said loan buybacks fell to their lowest level in 5 years.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM:US) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS:US) were among 18 financial firms that agreed to stop participating in some surveys of analyst sentiment while New York investigates early access to the information.

The most notable quotes from American Banker stories of the previous week. Readers are encouraged to add their own observations in the Comments fields at the bottom of each slide.

Bank of America Corp., the lender that turned to Warren Buffett in 2011 for a capital injection, reached a deal with the billionaire's company to change terms so the investment is treated more favorably by regulators.

WASHINGTON -- Banks and thrifts earned $40.3 billion in the fourth quarter -- a nearly 17% rise from a year earlier -- largely due once again to reduced loan loss provisions, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Wednesday.

The framework released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology should serve as an important tool for banks in meeting regulators’ heightened expectations for managing cyber risk.

Bank of America Corp., the second-biggest U.S. lender, disclosed new probes into its mortgage and foreign-exchange businesses and boosted an estimate of potential legal losses by 20 percent to $6.1 billion.

JPMorgan Chase laid out a careful plan for a better 2014 on Tuesday, as it tries to recover from a year spent paying for past mistakes. The bank is hoping that more expense cuts, improved technology and a greater reliance on wealth management will boost its future growth.

Morgan Stanley (MS) agreed to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission $275 million to resolve a probe into the sale of subprime mortgage-backed securities in 2007.

The fate of a measure that provided key tax relief to distressed homeowners is hanging in the balance as Congress debates a larger package of tax extenders.

The biggest U.S. banks and insurance companies would have to pay a quarterly 3.5 basis-point tax on assets exceeding $500 billion under a plan to be unveiled this week by Congress's top Republican tax writer.

Foundation Bancorp (FDNB) in Bellevue, Wash., has been released from an enforcement action issued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and state regulators.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board will release the results of the latest round of stress testing exercises of the largest U.S. banks next month, the agency said Tuesday.

Private issuers need certainty to create a new secondary mortgage market, MBA and SIFMA officials say.

Recently released transcripts of Federal Reserve meetings during the last financial crisis reflect how blind policymakers remained to what was unfolding even at its peak. That suggests the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s efforts to sound an early warning next time around are reminiscent of Charlie Brown hoping Lucy won’t pull away the football.

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Daniel Tarullo endorsed supervisors developing so-called "time-varying policies" that would help to address procyclicality, a key contributor to systemic risk.

Risk is like water, seeking the path of least resistance. If the path is narrowed, risk does not necessarily evaporate, as regulators wish, but often focuses as a more concentrated force. Accepting this alternative concept of risk has far-reaching policy consequences.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Vice Chairman Thomas Hoenig said governments should require "subsidiarization," a step that would have significant implications for how the FDIC unwinds failed giants.

Bankers and retailers rehash recent data breaches at Senate hearings, as new legislation is pondered.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau levied a $83,000 civil money penalty on Monday against Connecticut-based First Alliance Lending, a specialty firm that focuses on providing loss-mitigation financing to distressed borrowers.