Law and regulation

The share of all loans that were at least one payment past due or in foreclosure fell to 10.3% in the first quarter, the lowest level in four years, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday.

In three years of “say-on-pay” votes since Dodd-Frank, investors have widely acquiesced to double-digit increases in bank executive compensation.

The president of the Kansas City Fed responds to the ABA's James Chessen.

Comptroller of the Currency Tom Curry said regulators should take another look at the leverage ratio as part of a Basel III rule, another sign that the agencies are considering raising the standard.

MasterCard delivered its biggest commitment to financial inclusion to date, announcing the rollout of 13 million smart cards that would also serve as national identity cards for Nigerians.

The Fed should ditch tailored versions of bank-centric rules for ones that build on current nonbank regulation and are informed by comments received in the pending rulemakings.

Anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks can again accept credit card donations after Valitor hf, the Icelandic partner of MasterCard Inc. and Visa Europe Ltd., began processing payments after losing a court case.

Fannie Mae will pay the Treasury Department $59.4 billion after reporting a record quarterly profit driven by rising home prices and declining delinquencies.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is pushing for private student lenders and the government to help lower payments for borrowers after receiving thousands of complaints from consumers.

The Dodd-Frank Act's ban on pure commercial ownership of industrial loan companies is set to expire in July. American Banker editors discuss the pros and cons of allowing a commercial enterprise like Wal-Mart into the banking business at a time when the previous argument against doing so has been turned on its head.

Jim Bullard, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, is better known for his monetary policy positions, but he is joining the chorus of policymakers that argue the big banks need to be broken up.

According to a paper released by the American Enterprise Institute, the Dodd-Frank Act, which was originally designed to focus solely on the largest financial institutions, will hurt small banks as well.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a complaint Tuesday in New York's federal district court alleging that Mission Settlement Agency of New York and Premier Consultant Group LLC in New Jersey charged more than a thousand consumers millions of dollars in unnecessary, upfront fees.

The House Financial Services Committee passed nine bills on Tuesday with provisions that would make key changes to Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Chief Executive Brian Moynihan faced angry comments from more than 30 shareholders, but most criticized the company's financing of the coal industry, not its mortgage servicing or foreclosure practices.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., introduced a bill Wednesday that would temporarily allow students eligible for federally subsidized Stafford loans to borrow at the same interest rate that the largest institutions receive through the Federal Reserve discount window.

New reports from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac show the value of a government guarantee on multifamily mortgages.

Monarch Community Bancorp in Coldwater, Mich., plans to raise $16.5 million through a private placement.

Freddie Mac will pay $7 billion to the Treasury Department after reporting the second-largest quarterly net income in the company's history.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has introduced a bill designed to lower the interest charged on federal student loans, a preemptive move ahead of an expected rate hike this summer.