Law and regulation

A draft of the bill from Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Mark Warner, D-Va., has begun circulating on Capitol Hill. The legislation would set up a new housing finance system and calls for the dissolution of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Banks are behind many of the faulty or nonexistent records that lead collections companies to erroneously demand debt repayments. That was a key message from regulators, consumer advocates and collections insiders at a Thursday panel.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released exam guidelines on how the bureau plans to enforce the recently released mortgage rules.

Regulators said Thursday they have formed a working group to enhance coordination between federal and state banking agencies on cybersecurity.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said implementation of rules for assessing banks' security portfolios without using external credit ratings will likely demand a "learning curve."

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Sarah Bloom Raskin on Thursday said regulators should move quickly to implement a robust set of capital and liquidity rules to avoid further uncertainty and costs for community banks.

The consumer agency has listened to agency concerns and issued reasonable, measured rules, but it still faces charges that it's unaccountable and out of control.

Three years ago, Visa executives told investors that one of their goals was to enter new businesses, but Visa CEO Charlie Scharf, who joined the company in October, says that is no longer the case.

As the government banishes home loan products deemed unsuitable for most borrowers, why does it continue to backstop one that’s pitched to aging seniors – mainly by nonbank lenders?

The $42 million pact is the first of its kind to resolve complaints that a mortgage servicer treated foreclosed homes differently based on the racial composition of the neighborhood.

The industry is up in arms over a proposal that would require banks to disclose in call reports specific sources of fee revenue. In question is whether the mandate would improve oversight of safety and soundness or instead is aimed at furthering the policy agenda of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and consumer advocates.

It's not just the anonymity. Like cash and Bitcoin transactions, Liberty Reserve transfers were non-reversible, and that's important to certain merchants.

Law enforcement officials have arrested 11 people suspected in a $200 million global credit card fraud operation, according to the Serious Organized Crime Agency, a unit of the British government.

Banks' defense against litigation over the sale of bad mortgage-backed securities to Fannie and Freddie hinges on the unseemly idea that it is unreasonable to assume that the world's largest banks would comply with the Securities Act of 1933.

Law enforcement officials have arrested 11 people suspected in a $200 million global credit card fraud operation, according to the Serious Organized Crime Agency, a unit of the British government.

In a final rule meant to limit the systemic effects of company failures, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. defined which financial firms are subject to Dodd-Frank resolutions.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's long-awaited proposal to reform the money market mutual fund industry has left observers wondering whether the agency compromised too much in an effort to get a plan out the door.

American International Group Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche said that living wills, designed to help unwind struggling financial firms, may lead to international disputes.

The fees Fannie and Freddie charge to cover credit risk on mortgages have been surging. Large segments of the market may soon be fair game for securitization without federal backing.

American Banker's Editor-at-Large Barbara Rehm explains why the next 18 months are critical to the financial industry and why federal regulators must finish the majority of Dodd-Frank provisions by the end of 2014.