Law and regulation

An Oregon woman was awarded $18.6 million by a federal jury after spending two years unsuccessfully trying to get Equifax Information Services to fix mistakes on her credit report.

Sen. David Vitter is vowing to push for "tough" reforms to the Federal Housing Administration when the Senate Banking Committee takes up a bill to implement key changes at the agency on Wednesday.

The leaders of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission were pressed by lawmakers on Tuesday about their progress implementing new rules under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators released proposed guidance on Tuesday designed to help medium-sized banks comply with company-run stress test requirements that kick in this fall.

A relief package proposed by three senators last week has reinforced hope that Capitol Hill will ease community banks' regulatory burden by yearend.

The City of Richmond has sent offer letters to roughly 32 mortgage servicers and trustees requesting that it be allowed to buy underwater home loans at reduced prices. If the servicers balk, city officials say they will seek to seize the properties through eminent domain.

Lawmakers pressed heads of the SEC and CFTC at a hearing on Tuesday about their progress implementing and enforcing new rules under the Dodd-Frank Act.

While many people think of Bitcoin as a currency, Jaron Lukasiewicz, CEO and co-founder of Coinsetter, says Bitcoin should be thought of more as a payments infrastructure, allowing quick, inexpensive funds transfer. But for Bitcoin to thrive, banks must agree with this perspective.

A move by Pennsylvania lawmakers to abolish the state's savings-and-loan association charter comes as the number of thrifts nationwide continues to decline and the "S&L" name loses its former appeal.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago entered a written agreement with the $87 million-asset lender on July 23, Fed officials said Tuesday.

The former House Financial Services Committee chairman and Sheila Bair, the former FDIC chairman, both joined Twitter this week, with Barney Frank earning a surprise celebrity endorsement.

Price competition remains elusive in the market for loans to consumers with poor credit histories. Here's why.

Coastal Bank in Savannah, Ga., has been freed from a regulatory order.

Visa and MasterCard have agreed to share their common application identifier technology, enabling EMV-chip based debit transactions to originate from a single application while allowing merchants a choice of networks for routing.

A new self-regulatory organization for crypto-currencies could do a lot to advance the industry, but risks becoming co-opted by the government and undermining the core value proposition of digital cash.

Leaders in emerging payments and virtual currency have formed a committee to establish a self-regulating body to ensure regulatory compliance as the marketplace changes.

Regulatory reform is likely to continue on its current path if Janet Yellen, the Federal Reserve Board's vice chairman, is tapped to lead the central bank. The future is decidedly murkier if Larry Summers wins the post.

The race to succeed Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was kicked into high gear last week by rumors President Obama was about to announce his choice. The White House eventually backed off of that, saying a nomination was likely to come in the fall. Still, the speculation over who will be the next central bank chief has reached fever pitch. Following are the top candidates:

American International Group Inc. (AIG) will return funds to customers at its banking unit and shut their accounts amid a retreat from deposit-taking as the Dodd-Frank Act places limits on insurers.

The federal complaint against Castle & Cooke Mortgage issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau looks to be the first of many enforcement actions taken against mortgage originators for failing to follow new loan officer compensation rules.