Law and regulation

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:

In an interview this week, Jennifer Shasky Calvery, the director of Fincen, said the government was not trying to squash the development of digital currencies, but made it clear they must follow proper anti-money laundering procedures like other financial institutions.

The U.S. crackdown on Liberty Reserve is stoking fears that the government may effectively cut off digital currencies like Bitcoin as banks sever ties with businesses in this growing field.

Community banks and credit unions now have two years to continue originating balloon loans to all customers, a major change from a prior proposal that would have banned such loans except in rural or underserved markets.

Visa issuers have put 3.5 million chip-based smart cards in the hands of U.S. consumers since the card brand announced its EMV-card migration roadmap in August of 2011, a Visa executive says.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who was confirmed in February, repeated his commitment to completing the remaining rules of the Dodd-Frank Act.

While banks hit a landmark with their $40.3 billion in earnings, it appeared partly due to idiosyncratic transactions at big banks and was not a sign of a resurgent industry.

Lack of financial education blamed for low savings rates among young workers.