Law and regulation

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported continued positive signs about the health of its insurance fund, and said improvement in the industry has also meant lower premiums for some institutions.

Banks still using Microsoft's Windows XP operating system had better beware, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council announced this week.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. told banks under its watch to prioritize "prudent interest rate risk oversight."

The Dodd-Frank Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau might end up denying crucial funds to nations emerging from war, a new study says.

The Federal Reserve Board has freed Bank Hapoalim from an order that had required the Israeli bank to tighten its anti-money laundering oversight.

Ukash provides its online payments services in 55 countries with more than 420,000 locations worldwide. But it has so far steered clear of the U.S.

Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Citi insist that the Federal Housing Administration will compensate them for all foreclosure losses. But if the banks’ underwriting proves shoddy, they could be on the hook for billions of dollars.

Bankers warn that a default on certain Treasuries could put market collateral at risk, harm overnight lending, drain key sources of liquidity from the market and shatter consumer confidence.

WASHINGTON — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac filed paperwork Monday to merge the two companies' securitization platforms into a single unit, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Community bankers should opt out of the requirement to deduct unrealized gains and losses from AOCI; be aware of the challenges and opportunities that Basel III creates for M&A and capital raising; and stay on guard for changes to risk weighting of mortgages, experts say.

Several community banks are scrambling to address Tarp balances, either by selling or refinancing, as the dividend rate on those shares is set to nearly double.

Placing the Federal Housing Administration inside the proposed Federal Mortgage Insurance Corp. would provide singular oversight for balancing the post-GSE mortgage market and a fully federal guaranteed market for specified market segments.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may gain an upper-hand in the mortgage sphere because of regulators' plan to unite two separate mortgage standards mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act.

If history bears any indication of where this fight will wind up, New York’s top bank regulator, Benjamin Lawsky, could be headed for a long, slow, expensive defeat.

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

PNC Financial Services (PNC) in Pittsburgh has named a new top lawyer.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — not one of the six agencies defining so-called "Qualified Residential Mortgages" — could still determine the future of the label under a recent proposal.

Researchers at a Federal Reserve conference in St. Louis provided data backing small bankers' concerns about regulation and competition, though it is unclear if the findings will led to meaningful change.

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Jeremy Stein on Friday laid out potential regulatory remedies to help lessen the risks associated with fire sales.