Law and regulation

Stopping a proposed requirement that banks offer "plain-vanilla" credit products was an industry victory in the run-up to Dodd-Frank, but many believe it still survived.

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

Thirty U.S. financial institutions on Friday received a new batch of instructions to perform their annual stress test exercise next year, the Federal Reserve Board said. Unlike last year, however, the Fed added a few changes given its ongoing concern tied to securities financing transactions.

The head of the state bank supervisors' group said he sees a quiet push to "reform our regulatory structure to better reflect the business models of our largest banks."

The New York branch of Pakistani firm United Bank Limited has been ordered to strengthen oversight of its international remittance services to better comply with federal anti-money-laundering regulations.

We should think twice before cutting off access to alternative lenders that serve as a last resort for millions of low-income Americans. We should also encourage banks to remove the barriers for these customers when they want to open a savings account.

Fannie Mae filed an estimated $800 million lawsuit against nine banks for allegedly manipulating benchmark interest rates - including Libor, which is used to set global interest rates on financial products such as credit cards and mortgages.

Recent Fed chairman have embroiled themselves far too deeply into White House and congressional politics.

One of the main promises of the 2009 credit card reform law was that clearer disclosures to consumers would prompt them to make more prudent financial decisions.

As the U.S. adoption of EMV-chip cards encounters legal roadblocks and merchant opposition, critics have questioned whether the card networks' October 2015 deadline is overly aggressive.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has released Hudson Valley Bank in Yonkers, N.Y., from a 2012 enforcement action.

The Senate Banking Committee continues to discuss housing finance reform options even as efforts to confirm Congressman Mel Watt to run the Federal Housing Finance Agency stall.

The House passed the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act that would reduce restrictions under section 716 of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.

In a bipartisan letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, senators asked the agency to provide data used as basis for warning auto lenders they could be committing fair-lending violations.

When sophisticated, global institutions leave a country or line of business, they create a vacuum likely to be filled by outfits less sensitive to, or capable of managing, the risks involved.

Fannie Mae sued nine major banks over allegations their manipulation of the London interbank offered rate cost the mortgage financing company about $800 million.

Federal policymakers should make payday lenders structure their loans to be repaid over time, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

WASHINGTON — Nearly two-dozen senators are seeking data the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau used as the basis for warning auto lenders they could be committing fair-lending violations.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau got a confirmed director for the first time this year, when the Senate finally approved the longstanding nomination of Richard Cordray for the post. But the agency has also sustained the departures of high-ranking employees to law firms, consulting shops, banks and other destinations. Here's a look at some of the CFPB employees who have left in 2013, and where they have landed.

Another big law like Dodd-Frank could be harmful to the mortgage market, but an incremental approach to housing finance reform might be the perfect solution.