Law and regulation

In Russia, there's a large potential for U.S. payments providers willing to brave country's complex tech infrastructure and a national ID and payment card initiative that's still a work in progress.

Steve Antonakes, the No.2 at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, spent an hour with bankers on Wednesday attempting to ease concerns about impending mortgage rules and the examinations that will follow.

American Banker and Federal Financial Analytics are holding a joint forum with Sens. Vitter and Brown to discuss their bill to rein in the big banks and whether some institutions are "too big to fail."

U.S. Bancorp (USB) is about to add a service for Somali immigrants in the U.S.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., introduced a bill Wednesday that would establish a tax on the trading of stocks and other financial products.

Democratic lawmakers raised numerous concerns Wednesday over the mortgage servicer settlement announced in January, including how banks are credited for relief they provide to borrowers.

Scott Alvarez, the Federal Reserve Board's general counsel, told lawmakers that the Fed is unlikely to issue clear standards on when it would use Dodd-Frank to take apart big banks that pose a "grave threat" to the economy, each situation would have its own circumstances.

Roughly 91% of the mortgages Bank of America funded in the first quarter were refinances — spelling peril if the refi boom peters out, as is expected.

Demand for credit by consumers and businesses continued to show signs of gradual improvement as homeowners looked to refinance their homes and buy new cars, according to a survey released by the Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday.

Taking on the size of firms that put our financial system at risk is the only way to eliminate unfair competitive advantages, unleash free markets and allow community banks to thrive.

In a speech before the American Bankers Association, Sen. Jon Tester vowed he would hold Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accountable and ensure a level playing field to the secondary market for community banks.

Visa Europe is adding multi-currency support and “immediate payments” to its mobile services in Europe.

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Jeremy Stein said Wednesday regulators should continue to implement current regulatory reform efforts designed to eliminate "too big to fail," but take further steps to strengthen capital requirements if needed.

Bitcoin and similar rogue digital money exploit the public appetite for an alternative to traditional banking. To stave off this threat, central banks should embrace secure, well-regulated digitization of fiat currencies.

Stubborn regulators. Delays and cancellations. Unpredictable shareholders. Those are just some of the stomach-churning obstacles that have made guts and a bit of luck key ingredients in successful bank dealmaking.

Some bankers are still in denial over how much their industry is disliked and mistrusted, even in the postcrisis, post-Occupy Wall Street era. A panel discussion with Raj Date, Eliot Spitzer and Robert Wolf highlighted how much work remains to be done.

The banking industry backs a controversial cybersecurity bill, saying it would give them timely information needed to fend off cyberattacksm, while civil liberties groups charge the bill lacks safeguards to protect people's privacy.

The Federal Reserve Board said Wednesday that the independent consultant overseeing payments to millions of consumers as part of its mortgage settlement had fixed problems that had caused troubled borrowers' checks to bounce.

Congress can certainly help, but regulators must recognize that they have a structural oversight problem and need to develop remedies on their own.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday is expected to pass controversial legislation that aims to deter cyberattacks.