Law and regulation

Six federal agencies have re-issued their proposal for defining "qualified residential mortgages" that avoid risk retention, which is more to the industry's liking than a 2011 plan. But a much tougher alternative is still drawing attention.

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s rules for debit-card transaction fees and processing should remain in place while the central bank appeals a decision throwing out the regulations, according to retailers who oppose the new directives.

The Federal Reserve Board and merchants filed separate motions in favor of a stay that would allow the agency's current interchange rule to continue standing temporarily while the issue is decided in court.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations asked energy-market regulators to hand over "key documents" from a probe of JPMorgan Chase & Co. as lawmakers examine banks' roles in commodities markets.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has created an online guide to help the roughly 25% of U.S. public service workers eliminate their student loans.

The federal income tax exemption benefits credit union members and bank customers as credit unions provide a check on banks through their competitive rates and fees.

Greenlining Institute, a nonprofit research and policy group that advocates for racial and economic justice in the U.S., has joined a chorus of liberal voices calling for the appointment of Janet Yellen as the next chair of the Federal Reserve Board.

The six biggest U.S. banks, led by JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, have piled up $103 billion in legal costs since the financial crisis, more than all dividends paid to shareholders in the past five years.

The strength of America's financial system is a result of the diversity of its players, but that diversity won’t survive if our nation continues down the path of one-size-fits-all regulatory reform.

Federal regulators on Wednesday proposed aligning new securitization requirements with a recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau underwriting rule in a move likely to please banks and housing advocates.

The Colorado Judicial Department warned residents of the state Tuesday to beware of collection phone scams after receiving reports that fake agencies are threatening consumers with arrest warrants.

The investor group that plans to recapitalize U.S. Century Bank in Doral, Fla., has reportedly revised its offer to give a larger stake to preexisting shareholders.

We need to secure a balance between literal enforcement of statistical conclusions and the actual intention of the bank and the real needs of underserved minority communities.

As the year end edges closer, the window is narrowing for policymakers to make 2013 memorable for banking legislation and rule-making. Following are predictions from Washington-based experts about what will transpire—and what won't—on the policy front before the arrival of 2014.

Regulators are widely expected Wednesday to unveil far less stringent standards than an earlier proposal for the "qualified residential mortgages" that are exempt from new risk-retention requirements for securitized loans.

An executive at Calvert Financial in Ashland, Mo., has admitted to using funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to buy a luxury condominium.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is seeking at least $6 billion from JPMorgan Chase (JPM) to settle civil claims the bank sold bad mortgage bonds to government-backed finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to issue subpoenas to mortgage servicers to find out if borrowers in foreclosure are being overcharged by third-party vendors or paying for services that were not actually delivered.

A call to reassign GSE affordable housing goals to private securitizers ignores important changes in underwriting standards and the nature of federal mortgage guarantees in the conventional conforming market.

If regulators have concluded that the largest banks are "too big to manage," then let's confront that head-on. But let's not target a bank and drag it down piece by piece.