Law and regulation

The Chinese market has long been tough for foreign companies to break into, but over the past five years the cultural and political environment has changed in a way that presents some fresh possibilities.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has agreed to pull its enforcement attorneys out of exams with financial companies after relentless opposition from bankers to their presence.

Regulation-by-numbers under Dodd-Frank is taking the art out of community banking and narrowing the borrowing window for lenders and needy borrowers alike. That was one of the key take-aways from the Federal Reserve's first ever conference on community bank research.

Janet Yellen shouldn't have needed anyone's help to be nominated to lead the Fed. Her tortuous path underscores the importance of rallying around qualified women candidates for industry leadership positions.

Almost everyone has an opinion about how to reform Fannie and Freddie, but some housing experts say the status quo isn't so bad.

Janet Yellen is expected to take a more hands-on role in bank regulation than her predecessors if she is confirmed to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

Banks had to devote more money to compliance in the third quarter after regulators increased the rate of new enforcement actions.

California regulators are warning banks and credit unions chartered by the Golden State to refrain from processing transactions for 16 online consumer lenders.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau penalized two nonbank mortgage lenders on Wednesday for incorrectly reporting data to regulators in a move certain to draw significant attention from the rest of the industry.

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators on Wednesday urged banks and other financial institutions to consider loan modification plans for borrowers affected by the government shutdown, which is now in its second week.

Reports that the ceiling on government-backed mortgages may fall at the start of 2014 have much of the housing industry up in arms.

The distinguished economist will have to make monetary policy a priority during her tenure as Fed chair. But Yellen won’t forget about her financial regulatory role and is likely to support stricter capital requirements along with enhanced nonbank supervision.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development's recent proposal regarding the definition of "qualified mortgages" differs from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's QM rule. These key differences are causing lenders to be overwhelmed with how to implement the agency's plan.

Members of the Senate Banking Committee quickly took sides in the brewing battle over the nomination of Janet Yellen to head the Federal Reserve Board, but it was already apparent that she was ultimately likely to win confirmation.

Hopefully, examiners will respect good-faith efforts by banks and third-party processors to verify that a merchant’s business is legal – rather than expect financial institutions to guarantee how courts will decide.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. urged a U.S. judge to reject a proposed $500 million class-action settlement between Bank of America Corp.'s Countrywide unit and investors in devalued mortgage-backed securities.

The Minnesota Department of Commerce recently moved to shut down and place into receivership two collection agencies that allegedly operated without a license and that owner Robert Dunham tapped to help finance his personal extravagances, the state agency reported Wednesday.

President Obama will nominate Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Janet Yellen tomorrow to head the U.S. central bank, a White House official said in an e-mailed statement.

Lenders are increasingly anxious about how to deal with the Department of Housing and Urban Development's recent proposal concerning the definition of "qualified mortgages," noting the agency's plan differs in key respects from the CFPB's QM rule.

According to an essay by Raymond Natter, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Dodd-Frank Act may cut off payments to conflict-torn areas.