Law and regulation

Regulators increasingly are holding banks accountable for the misdeeds of vendors and customers. The trend reflects a broadening of their definition of what constitutes safety, soundness and reputational risks to banks. For senior industry executives, the implications are that banks will be pressured to police the behavior not only of employees but of those they deal with outside the bank as well.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling is expected to unveil new mortgage finance reform legislation this month — an effort that has virtually no chance of becoming law this year, but one that will undoubtedly shape the housing debate.

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

The nation's biggest mutual thrift has endured litigation, activists' protests and a check-kiting scandal at Roma, a thrift it is trying to buy.

MasterCard Inc. asked the European Union’s highest court to overturn a regulatory decision on transaction fees that ended its ability to set rates on cross- border credit-card payments.

Foreign banking organizations will need to create massive compliance and reporting systems to handle the Volcker Rule, even if the vast majority of their dealings are done outside its scope.

WASHINGTON — The Senate Banking Committee said Wednesday that it would hold a hearing July 11 about the progress regulators have made in mitigating systemic risk.

Mortgage disclosures and supervision of non-bank entities will be top concerns for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as it enters its third official year of operation, according to its semi-annual rulemaking agenda released Wednesday.

Wal-Mart and Home Depot are among the companies being investigated by the New York attorney general over fees charged employees on prepaid cards used as worker paychecks.

Prudential Financial Inc.'s appeal against a designation that the firm is systemically important is unlikely to succeed, observers said, but could force the Federal Reserve Board to detail more about how it will supervise such companies.

A former president and chief executive of a Tennessee bank is going to prison for bank fraud.

Amazon.com Inc. and 7-Eleven Inc. sued Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. over card fees after rejecting a multibillion-dollar settlement in an antitrust case.

The Federal Reserve's Tuesday vote on Basel III capital rules resulted in mostly good news for small banks and a harsh but expected message for large ones. For institutions of all sizes much remains to be decided, however. American Banker's Donna Borak explains.

The industry doesn't need to invest millions in further education and legislation. The road to a good credit score is pretty straightforward.

There were three issues that dominated Washington in June: cybersecurity, CFPB rules and staffing problems, and the unexpected emergence of a bipartisan housing finance reform bill. Following are the stories you don't want to miss:

HSBC's $1.9 billion agreement with the U.S. to resolve charges it enabled Latin American drug cartels to launder billions of dollars was approved by a federal judge.

Prudential Financial Inc., the No. 2 U.S. life insurer, is contesting a U.S. finding that it poses a potential risk to the financial system, becoming the first company to challenge the tag that brings additional oversight.

Wells Fargo and HSBC are among four banks that submitted "living wills," or road maps to help regulators safely dismantle them if they fail. Royal Bank of Scotland and BNP Paribas also filed.

Community bankers emerged victorious Tuesday after regulators made a number of key changes to a final package of Basel III capital rules in an effort to address smaller institutions' concerns. But the biggest banks, in contrast, fared far worse.

The FTC's move to hold payment processors responsible for the deeds of unscrupulous merchants could result in higher prices or fewer choices for small businesses and consumers.