Law and regulation

The crackdown on Liberty Reserve underscores the importance of regulatory expertise to digital currency startups. No wonder Liberty City Ventures (no relation to the indicted company) retained former Treasury officials as advisors.

The Troubled Asset Relief Program will cost taxpayers less than expected.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. joined more than 30 of the biggest U.S. retailers in objecting to a $7.25 billion antitrust settlement with Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. over merchant fees, saying the deal is meaningless when card companies can continue to fix the charges.

The California Senate passed SB233 on Friday, a measure that would require debt buyers to have a lengthy list of account information on hand before collection efforts can start.

Regulators, legislators, bankers, and the public should do everything they can so that Title I of Dodd-Frank works. The goal is to avoid Title II – orderly liquidation – at all cost.

Citigroup has agreed to settle a lawsuit by the federal government that charged the bank with misleading investors in the run-up to the mortgage meltdown.

The Treasury Department has proposed a rule designed to seal off the U.S. financial system from Liberty Reserve, the digital currency issuer authorities charged Tuesday with laundering more than $6 billion for criminal groups.

The Treasury Department has proposed a rule designed to seal off the U.S. financial system from Liberty Reserve, the digital currency issuer authorities charged Tuesday with laundering more than $6 billion for criminal groups.

Momentum is building on both sides of the aisle for significant reform of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. American Banker staffers discuss what's behind the Senate's rare show of bipartisanship.

New overdraft rules are expected after a release of a report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and are likely to have an uneven impact across the banking industry.

The threat of cyberattack is an increasingly hot topic in Washington, but political interest alone appears unlikely to provide enough momentum to get cybersecurity legislation supported by banks passed this year.

Retailers and the major card brands are throwing more legal punches at each other over the controversial proposed $7.25 billion swipe-fee settlement in a years-long anti-trust case.

The nation needs a more informed public discussion of the kind of financial system we really want before we try breaking up the big banks through legislation or regulatory fiat.

A federal jury convicted three former executives at the failed Bank of the Commonwealth in Norfolk, Va., of hiding the bank's bad assets for their own gain.

The CFPB has made fair lending a top priority. To avoid problems, scrutinize the agency’s view of the laws, proactively analyze policies and document the reasons behind your loan decisions.

Because Bitcoin transactions are virtually instant, free and near-anonymous, charitable organizations are collecting and distributing donations in bitcoin.

World Law Group, one of the largest U.S. debt settlement firms, has been ordered to stop collecting upfront fees for its services, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper has announced.

Liberty Reserve SA and seven individuals were indicted in what federal prosecutors in New York called an international money-laundering conspiracy.

Bitcoin has had as much bad publicity as good in recent months. But even its setbacks have served to strengthen the community that supports the fledgling alternative currency.

Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. sued trade groups and retailers that rejected a $7.25 billion settlement in a price-fixing suit and asked a court to rule that the card companies' fee practices weren't illegal.