Law and regulation

Visa Inc. said it awarded Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf compensation for fiscal year 2013 valued at $10.5 million.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Friday closed Texas Community Bank, a $160 million-asset institution located north of Houston.

IMGCAP(1)]

The Federal Reserve Board on Friday announced the new chairs of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks for 2014.

While the agencies successfully finalized the long-awaited Volcker Rule this week, they are expected to miss yearend deadlines for several other rules, including ones that would institute tougher capital requirements on big banks and force them to issue long-term debt.

WASHINGTON -- Regulators were clearly giddy, and some might suggest punchy, when they finalized the Volcker Rule after three years of inter-agency squabbling.

Bitcoin enthusiasts are expressing confusion and surprise after Casascius Coin, which encodes a digital bitcoins onto physical coins, halted operations after receiving notification from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network that it is subject to the department's oversight.

Lower credit losses and higher premium revenues pushed the Federal Housing Administration’s mortgage insurance fund closer to positive territory and the agency says it is on pace to reach its statutory capital requirement two years ahead of schedule.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. plans to use Dodd-Frank's "orderly liquidation authority" to dismantle a troubled megabank, but experts worry the single-point resolution may be perceived as a stealth bailout by the government.

Federal regulators added a final rule that exempts certain mortgage loans and refinances from appraisal requirements established under the 2010 Dodd-Frank reform law.

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

The Federal Reserve Board has approved a delayed merger between United Bancshares in Charleston, W.Va., and Virginia Commerce Bancorp in Arlington.

The FDIC invited luminaries like Paul Volcker and John Reed to evaluate their plan to seize and unwind a troubled megabank – and probably didn’t like what they said.

Federal regulators on Thursday issued a final rule that exempts some mortgage loans and refinances from appraisal requirements established under the Dodd-Frank Act.

Banking groups fear the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is already gearing up to write tough new rules restricting the use of arbitration clauses despite promises by agency officials that a study on the issue was only "preliminary" and not designed to pass judgment.

In theory, the FDIC's plan to seize and dismantle a troubled megabank is the furthest thing from a government bailout. But experts are increasingly worried that even if the plan works as promised, it might be perceived differently by the public.

Buyers of failed banks and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. have mutual interests in closing out loss-share agreements even before they are due to sunset in coming years.

Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill Lynch agreed to pay about $131 million to settle U.S. regulatory claims it failed to tell investors that hedge fund Magnetar Capital LLC had a role in selecting assets for two 2006 mortgage-backed securities.

The Debit Network Alliance, formed this week through the collaborative effort of ten PIN debit networks, is seeking the membership and cooperation of other industry players, including the major card brands.

The first new bank in three years recently cleared the hurdles necessary to open its doors. To do so, Bank of Bird-in-Hand's backers had to file 18 inches of paperwork, raising the question of whether regulators have become so strict that they'll encourage financial innovators to go elsewhere and leave community banks to languish.