Law and regulation

Benjamin K. Olson, who was deputy assistant director in the CFPB's office of regulations, has joined the Washington office of BuckleySandler LLP as counsel, the law firm said this week.

Freddie says its new "low-activity" fee will offset the cost of monitoring the loans it buys, but avoiding it could be a challenge for lenders in rural markets.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has taken enforcement actions against eight banks and freed 12 others from prior orders, according to a series of orders released Friday.

Net interest margins are complex beasts. During the last Fed tightening cycle, the yield curve turned negative and margins narrowed.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council is close to identifying several nonbank financial companies as systemically risky after spending years ironing out how it would undertake the first-time effort.

The lack of a standard technology model for mobile point of sale payments is not only holding back consumer adoption, it's also affecting regulatory compliance, says Mphasis' Kumail Tyebjee.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has managed to take one of the most controversial provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act — a rule that would effectively redefine the mortgage market — and craft it in a way to please both the banking industry and consumer groups.

Thirteen members of the House Financial Services Committee wrote to Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, asking for details in the agency's investigation into discriminatory auto lending.

Nancy Graves, who until last week served as assistant director of New Jersey's Department of Banking and Insurance, has joined Pascack Bancorp (PSBR) in Waldwick as president and chief executive.

New York's Department of Financial Services has reached a deal with several small specialty insurance carriers, triggering a statewide ban on force-placed insurance payments to banks.

Members of the House Financial Services Committee are pressing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for details about its investigation into discriminatory auto lending.

Among other problems, Goldman never mentions that one big reason it survived and thrived is that the bailout of AIG enabled it to repay Goldman and other counterparties at par.

"Digital currencies are exciting because of the innovation," but "being a financial institution comes with certain responsibilities," says Fincen Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery in a Q&A.

The Libor scandal ensnared a number of big banks and has heightened concerns that other indices are vulnerable to similar manipulation. That has led regulators to caution against such activity and indicates financial institutions would do well to ensure their risk management and compliance staffs are on high alert.

The Federal Reserve Board has taken action against two banks and terminated orders with four others, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp has freed Synovus Financial from an order.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated an enforcement action with CIT Group.

The Treasury Department and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly agreed to allow the Making Home Affordable Program to continue to be available to American families for an additional two years through Dec. 31, 2015.

Southwest Bancorp in Stillwater, Okla., and Bank of Kentucky in Crestview Hills have completed exits from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Public officials talk as if facilitating anonymous financial transactions is in itself somehow nefarious. But there are legitimate reasons to keep online purchases and other activity private.

The list of policy heavyweights calling for a breakup of the big banks has continued to swell since our last slideshow on the topic. Here are some of the latest endorsing the concept: