Law and regulation

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced that James Wigand will step down from his management post of the agency's new wind-down facility for systemically important companies on July 28. In 2010, Wigand began overseeing the agency's implementation of the new resolution powers under the Dodd-Frank Act.

The SEC's recent roundtable on ratings shopping in structured finance was a reminder of how efforts at reform are obstructed by a wall of denial.

President Obama said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has stayed in his post "longer than he wanted," one of the clearest signals the central bank chief will leave when his current term expires next year.

JPMorgan Chase must defend itself against allegations that it charged millions of dollars in improper fees to mortgage borrowers who were in default, a federal judge has ruled.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced that Arthur Murton will succeed James Wigand in managing the agency's responsibility under the Dodd-Frank Act to handle the wind-downs of failed behemoths.

Banks bulked up on collateralized loan obligations again in the first quarter for risk management and other purposes. But new deposit insurance rules are expected to deter them from buying more.

As the volume of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. suits against failed-bank officers and directors continues to rise, few cases are approaching anything close to an outcome.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has hired a lobbyist for the force-placed insurance industry as its point man in reforming a market allegedly riddled with industry kickbacks.

When the government backs any system, the beneficiaries have only limited interest in the risks they are taking. Senators Corker and Warner have fallen into this trap.

Many developed countries, free from the U.S. impulse to see every product as something to track, do not share its inclination to frown on financial privacy.

A fair-housing case provides the industry an opportunity to stamp out the longstanding legal theory that there can be lending discrimination without evidence of intent.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren raised the issue about the regulatory burden facing community banks at a Senate Banking Committee hearing.

To keep costs down, insurers are exercising their right under the Affordable Care Act to insist consumers pay their premiums via automatic bank withdrawal. The Department of Health and Human Services is scrambling to make insurers accept plastic.

CFPB Director Richard Cordray said employers "play a critical role" in strengthening consumers' financial capability.

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

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. knows it must put some meat on the bones of its process for dismantling large financial firms, but is struggling to strike the right balance between providing too much detail and not enough.

Thomas Hoenig, vice chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said banks chasing 20% returns are aiming too high.

Straightening out bad actors is fine, but it won’t resolve the inconsistencies and consumer confusion about overdraft protection cited by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Pakistan is considering a law requiring banks to give the country's tax revenue agency access to online databases of account holders and their transactions.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., the second-ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, earned a cameo in a ballet performance at the Metropolitan Opera House.