Law and regulation

Saddle River Valley Bank, which was bought last year by Center Bancorp, allegedly failed to adequately monitor transactions with currency exchange houses in Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

Sen. Bob Corker, a co-author of legislation to overhaul the mortgage finance market, forcefully defended his proposal that private capital take at least 10% of the first loss on mortgage-backed securities. Others predicted that he'll have to water it down to advance the bill.

Perhaps not surprisingly, a federal government that lives beyond its means tragically encouraged American families to do the same.

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto said the central bank is working to improve the speed and security of the U.S. payments system.

Bank of America was ordered to pay $2.2 million to black job applicants who were unfairly rejected for teller and clerical positions in a case spanning almost two decades, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said his agency plans to issue formal guidelines about the regulator's "heightened expectations" for large banks under its supervision.

Community bankers may have a long wish list of legislative changes for Congress to consider, but it is unlikely lawmakers will take up a comprehensive bill addressing those issues anytime soon.

Three years after passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, many bankers are still anxious as they wait for some rules to be written and others to be implemented. Yet a new set of regulatory and legislative challenges looms.

With every action now being scrutinized in real time, banks don't necessarily need guidelines and mandates to know if they are doing right by customers and shareholders, Fifth Third CEO Kevin Kabat says at American Banker's Regulatory Symposium.

You would be forgiven in thinking the OCC has been solely preoccupied with JPMorgan Chase in recent days, but the agency has disciplined three other national banks since late August, according to its monthly roundup of enforcement actions.

JPMorgan Chase will be charged by federal prosecutors in California in connection with sales of mortgage-backed securities, a person familiar with the matter said.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg tells audience at American Banker's Regulatory Symposium of need for "complementary" relationship between leverage and risk-based capital ratios.

Regulators slapped Toronto-Dominion Bank's main U.S. unit with more than $52 million in fines for violating the Bank Secrecy Act and securities laws in relation to a Ponzi scheme in Florida.

Despite Basel III's shortcomings, I have yet to hear of a better solution than combining risk-weighted assets with a strong leverage ratio. Both require uniform guidelines for banks and disclosure.

Panelists at American Banker's Regulatory Symposium will discuss a federal proposal addressing how banks should develop risk management policies for their use of social media.

There’s no question that that banking industry owes a solid to government policymakers for bailing them out of the crisis. What’s still much in dispute is whether the Dodd-Frank Act and the various other salves that have been applied to stave off another calamity will work as intended.

The idea that skin in the game is the best way to ensure that people take responsibility for their professional conduct harks back to ancient Babylon. Black Swan author Nassim Taleb calls it "the best risk management rule ever." American Banker editors discuss whether skin in the game is the elixir needed to make modern finance safe or is destined to lose favor as fast as stock options and Alan Greenspan.

Moving to an expected-loss framework would be a step in the right direction but entails a great deal of subjectivity, model risk and confusion for investors trying to compare institutions.

In order to prevent cyber attacks and keep the financial system safe, banks have to understand the key threats to the industry. We asked two top banking regulators what they're worried about right now.

Regulators have designated Prudential Financial Inc. as a risk to the financial system. The Newark, N.J.-based company is the third nonbank firm given the SIFI label.