Law and regulation

To avoid unwanted scrutiny from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other regulators, banks need to start thinking about "what is fair, not just what is legal," banking attorneys say.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a rule Friday attempting to clarify how it would use its Civil Penalty Fund, which holds money it collects as a result of fines against financial companies.

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan group of lawmakers is looking to amend a lending provision that classifies certain types of loans used to purchase manufactured housing as predatory.

BNC Bancorp (BNCN) in Thomasville, N.C., plans to buy back its Troubled Asset Relief Program shares from investors who bought them in a Treasury Department auction last summer.

As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau works on finalizing mortgage rules, Kelly Cochran, the assistant director for regulations, says it is taking concerns about burdens on small lenders and access to credit "very seriously."

The Brown-Vitter bill on "Too Big to Fail" faces significant challenges to passage, yet it is likely to have an impact on big banks and regulation anyway. Here's why.

Unrealistic capital requirements and strict deadlines would force megabanks to sell assets, removing their value from the U.S. and global economies permanently.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council, established by Title I of the Dodd-Frank Act, identified seven significant areas of concern on Thursday that policymakers need to address in order to contain threats to the U.S. financial system.

A system where ratings are assigned to a nationally recognized statistical ratings organization by an independent public utility offers the best shot at avoiding another secondary mortgage market meltdown.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office has charged a Dallas-based debt management firm with defrauding customers by marketing its services through a now-defunct Web site and direct customer emails.

People — and payment companies — are starting to take Bitcoin seriously.The decentralized virtual currency is overcoming its stigma as a fringe currency for illegal transactions and is stirring up consumer scrutiny of the practices of large payment providers. The payments industry is changing rapidly, but today the movement isn't about payments — it's about data.

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Daniel Tarullo is not backing a "too big to fail" bill introduced by Sens. Sherrod Brown and David Vitter this week and doesn't plan to, either.

The Obama Administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to reverse a federal appeals court decision that nullified its recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council on Thursday identified several significant areas of concern, including operational risks like cybersecurity, overreliance on wholesale funding, and the impact of low interest-rates.

Facing strict new guidelines on deposit-advance loans, banks must now decide if it's worth their while to offer short-term credit to cash-strapped borrowers.

The Federal Reserve Board has hit two Midwest banks — Freedom Bank in Tulsa, Okla., and Freedom Bancorp. in Lindstrom, Minn. — with enforcement orders.

After House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling said on Monday that he would not allow Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray to testify on the agency's semi-annual report, Rep. Maxine Waters urged Hensarling to reconsider.

Sen. Sherrod Brown was flummoxed this week by a critic's description of herself as the "Judas goat" of Wall Street.

Beneficial Mutual Bancorp in Philadelphia is the subject of a governmental investigation into its residential real estate lending.

The Terminating Bailouts for Taxpayer Fairness Act adds more regulatory uncertainty to a financial sector that desperately needs clarity and direction.