Law and regulation

Sallie Mae has told shareholders that federal regulators were expected to penalize the company for violations of a federal law that offers special borrower benefits to members of the military.

President Obama belatedly weighed in Tuesday with a vision of how to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the future of housing finance. American Banker editors discuss how the White House’s involvement is likely to influence the debate.

The lower profits and new fees banks predicted when the swipe fee cap on debit cards was initially proposed never came to fruition. Why believe them now?

The Lamassu machine, a so-called Bitcoin ATM, is a rare device that makes it possible for the unbanked to obtain digital currency. It was invented by a pair of guitar-store proprietors who wanted to break into the payments industry — and are prepared to face the music when regulators take notice.

As financial services startups debate whether it is better to ask regulators for permission or beg for their forgiveness after acquiring customers, PayPal’s history might offer some lessons.

Would-be payments disruptor Aaron Greenspan says a California money transmission law forced him to choose between killing his startup and going to prison. Other financial services startups may face similar choices.

President Obama ended his administration's self-imposed blackout regarding housing finance reform on Tuesday, finally endorsing a specific approach after effectively punting on the issue more than two years ago.

New York state is asking more than 100 banks to choke off access to the automated payments system that unlicensed online lenders use to debit the checking accounts of consumers.

A former chairman of the failed Premier Bank in Wilmette, Ill., has been charged with fraud in what prosecutors say is the first criminal case tied to the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Bank of America was sued by the Justice Department over allegations that it lied to investors about the riskiness of the loans backing a 2008 mortgage deal.

Abby McCloskey, program director of Economic Policy at the American Enterprise Institute, believes what defines a bank as a systemically important financial institution should be reexamined.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated an enforcement action against Belt Valley Bank in Belt, Mont.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s online training for community bankers now includes an eight-video module on how institutions can manage their exposure to fluctuating rates.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau posted a blog Monday stating that there are more than 7 million borrowers in default on federal of private student loans.

The promising Senate bill needs to do more to ensure an affordable market for multifamily mortgages, aid historically underserved borrowers and protect struggling homeowners.

Removing the arbitrary size designation for bank SIFIs would reduce costly regulation for regionals, encourage industrywide competition and concentrate regulators' efforts on firms that actually warrant attention.

President Obama will urge lawmakers on Tuesday to pursue a bipartisan housing finance reform plan that will protect American middle-class families and put an end to future taxpayer bailouts.

WASHINGTON — There are more than 7 million borrowers in default on federal or private student loans, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

According to experts, the ethics questions raised by House lawmakers about Raj Date, the former No. 2 at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who left to form his own firm, appear to be based on "faulty information."

Lawmakers have accused Raj Date, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's former No. 2, of lobbying his old employer and profiting from a mortgage rule he wrote. Yet ethics experts, and even some of those who formerly accused him of wrongdoing, now say the charges are bogus.