Law and regulation

Massachusetts' freshman senator, one year in.

WASHINGTON -- The legal battle over the application of the Volcker Rule is unlikely to be resolved until mid-January.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was one of the most active regulators in 2013, writing a slew of new rules and taking a host of enforcement actions against banks and nonbanks alike. But that may pale in comparison to what the agency undertakes in 2014.

The “ability-to-repay” regime eviscerates fundamental principles of a mortgage “market.” It will not guarantee against a housing bubble and crash. It will constrain the availability of credit and increase home financing costs.

The “ability-to-repay” regime eviscerates fundamental principles of a mortgage “market.” It will not guarantee against a housing bubble and crash. It will constrain the availability of credit and increase home financing costs.

Community Bank System (CBU) in DeWitt, N.Y., will take a $6.9 million loss in the fourth quarter after selling collateralized-debt obligations and other securities in response to concerns over the Volcker Rule.

December was one of the most active months for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as it took several enforcement actions spanning from mortgage servicing to indirect auto lending. A number of cases were key milestones for the agency as it partnered with federal and state authorities as well as employed some controversial legal theories such as disparate impact. Here’s a countdown of the big cases for the month.

Including the Wells settlement, Fannie has collected nearly $14 billion from eight large mortgage lenders since the start of 2013.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. still faces questions over how its resolution platform for systemically important firms will work. But international dialogue, a document detailing the agency's resolution strategy and the endorsement of a key rating agency highlighted progress during the year.

Commercial lending perked up after the government shutdown ended, though bankers are still having to cut deals on pricing to land business. Consumer lending continued to decelerate.

United Community Banks (UCBI) in Blairsville, Ga., plans to redeem $180 million of stock issued under the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program along with $16.8 million of other outstanding preferred stock.

Brazil will boost levies on withdrawals abroad to restrain a widening current account deficit and prevent a six-percentage point gap in tax levels from reducing the use of credit cards.

The Volcker Rule is a veritable leviathan in size and complexity, but the jury is out on whether it can truly avert another London Whale-type fiasco. Don’t hold your breath.

Wells Fargo & Co., the largest U.S. home lender, agreed to pay Fannie Mae $591 million to resolve repurchase demands on loans sold to the government-backed firm before Jan. 1, 2009.

A compilation of the year's favorite stories, as selected by the people who assigned and edited them. Picks exclude items that appear among Top Stories of 2013, as measured by audience size.

Banks have beefed up risk management teams dramatically over the past few years. But some are doing a much better job than others of getting their arms around the full extent of the regulations and operational challenges they face, says Ingmar Bromstrup, a Principal at The Boston Consulting Group.

We revisit some of the best comments readers posted to AmericanBanker.com and BankThink.com in 2013.

Banks got some regulatory relief in 2013 as federal regulators sharply curtailed their issuance of new enforcement actions.

Federal banking regulators are exploring whether to exempt collateralized debt obligations backed by trust-preferred securities from the Volcker Rule, the agencies said on Friday.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.