Law and regulation

Following a series of fines against some of the largest banks for anti-money laundering lapses, expect regulators to target banks in the next tier down, says Ellen Zimiles of Navigant Consulting. A former assistant U.S. attorney, Zimiles also explains why the government has been reluctant to press criminal charges against financial institutions, and why it's hard to build cases against individual bankers.

The housing industry is stepping up behind-the-scenes lobbying to alter the housing finance bill sponsored by Rep. Jeb Hensarling and perhaps kill the legislation entirely.

The close vote, however, shows just how dissatisfied folks have become with the opaque and inconsistent RWA system.

A Bitcoin trade group will meet today with the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and an array of law-enforcement officials and regulators to discuss oversight of the digital currency.

The recent court ruling on debit interchange fees should remind the payments industry how harmful the Durbin amendment is.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray has had a very busy few years at the helm of the nation's newest bank regulator. His tenure has involved creating a bureau almost from scratch and contending with a wide range of highly contentious policy issues-none more controversial than his own status, which was changed from acting to permanent CFPB director following a July Senate confirmation vote in which he garnered a two-thirds majority. Following are quotes from an interview Cordray conducted recently with American Banker Washington reporter Rachel Witkowski.

Tradehill Inc., an exchange for virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, is moving customer accounts to a U.S. credit union, a shift designed to make it easier for clients to complete transactions.

Ex-CFPB official, Raj Date, defends his subprime mortgage startup against GOP-led ethics complaints.

Banks best take note of recent Supreme Court rulings on arbitration and class actions.

Janet Yellen and Larry Summers are in the lead for Federal Reserve chairmanship, but with all the other names that surfaced (or resurfaced) in recent days—Donald Kohn, Roger Ferguson, Christina Romer—who knows what the field will look like by September.

Federal Reserve Board Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin is concerned about the widening gap between rich and poor and thinks the government should be too.

Capitol Bancorp (CBCRQ) has lost another bank after regulators closed its Sunrise Bank of Arizona on Friday.

Community South Bank in Parsons was shut down by Tennessee regulators Friday.

EverBank Financial (EVER) has reached a $43 million settlement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in connection with allegations of improper foreclosure practices.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for help in catching the so-called Loan Ranger Bandit, the agency announced on its website Friday.

The regional banks face a False Claims Act probe by the departments of Justice and Housing and Urban Development into how they originated FHA-insured loans. Large fines may follow.

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

A top official in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's enforcement office has left the agency to join an online lender in California.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is charging Fifth Third with discriminating against a couple with disabilities who were attempting to refinance their mortgage.

Banks and credit unions are squaring off on the social media front over a Depression-era law that exempts credit unions from federal income taxes.