Law and regulation

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday regulators are still trying to make the central bank’s monetary policy mesh more with its financial stability goals.

In a setback for credit card issuers and a win for retailers, legislation that would bar merchants from charging customers to pay with plastic has stalled in about 15 states

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued bulletins on Wednesday warning any companies collecting debt that they would be held accountable for unlawfully dealing with consumers.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council, designed under the Dodd-Frank Act to identify risks to the stability of the financial system, unanimously voted Tuesday naming American International Group and GE Capital as systemically important institutions.

Six regulatory agencies on Wednesday issued a proposal that would exempt three types of higher-priced mortgage loans from appraisal requirements.

Lenders will need to evaluate and subsequently document their compliance with ability-to-repay and fair-lending rules in order to avoid getting caught in regulators’ crosshairs.

The long-anticipated collapse in mortgage applications, finally a reality, stands to take a bite out of bank earnings in the second quarter and beyond.

Richard Parsons, former chairman of Citigroup, said that the biggest U.S. banks probably need more capital as regulators seek to prevent another financial crisis.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned companies collecting debt that it is closely watching how consumers are treated while at the same time expanding ways for consumers to dispute debt.

By smoothening the credit cycle, macroprudential regulation can temper the major problems with the growth model of the past 30-odd years: the tendency toward excessive credit growth, booms and busts.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned companies collecting debt that it is closely watching how consumers are treated while at the same time expanding ways for consumers to dispute debt.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council unanimously voted Tuesday to designate American International Group and GE Capital as systemically important financial institutions, the first nonbanks to be named to that category.

A proposal by U.S. regulators to raise the leverage ratio at the biggest bank holding companies and their subsidiaries is already drawing fire from both sides of a raging debate about how high capital requirements must be to ensure no institution poses a systemic risk.

House Republicans grilled the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's acting deputy director Tuesday over how the agency gathers and protects consumer data.

The Federal Reserve Board has lifted regulatory actions against Huntington Bancshares in Texas and Buckeye Bancshares in Ohio.

The House passed two financial services bills on Monday, the Audit Integrity and Job Protection Act and the Financial Competitive Act of 2013.

A recent flurry of directives indicates the Basel Committee is committed to establishing uniform, international capital standards that improve the safety and soundness of large, interconnected banks.

Banks and payment networks are pressing state lawmakers to bar retailers from charging customers more to pay with credit cards than with debit cards or cash.

The House passed two financial services bills on Monday that would retain a public company's choice of external auditors and require the Financial Stability Oversight Council to study the impact of derivatives provisions under the Basel III capital standards.

Regulators ordered Texas-based Expert Global Solutions, the world's largest debt collection firm, on Tuesday to pay a $3.2 million fine for allegedly making illegal collections calls and not verifying debt in dispute.