Law and regulation

Sen. Tim Johnson, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has said he will announce a decision about whether to run for office again by the end of the month.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has terminated enforcement actions against two banks: First Bancshares of Mountain Grove, Mo., and CIB Marine Bancshares of Waukesha, Wis.

A Rasmussen Reports survey has found that 50% of U.S. adults would favor a plan to break up the largest banks.

Auto dealership advocates are warning that costs will rise for borrowers if the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau presses banks to curtail auto loan markups determined by dealers.

Many financial A-listers have either written books about the financial crisis or are working on them. Among the most recent to announce: Timothy Geithner, who stepped down as Treasury Secretary in January. Following are some notable examples of those taking a crack at writing first drafts of financial crisis history.

If he supported size regulations on big banks, JPMorgan's CEO would help revamp his increasingly tarnished image and help put the entire financial industry on the path to redemption.

The Federal Reserve Board has released Citizens Community Bancorp (CZWI) in Eau Claire, Wis., from an enforcement action.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a bulletin on Thursday warning indirect auto lenders that they could be violating fair-lending laws if they do not stop auto dealers who often mark up the loans they issue.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated enforcement actions against three banks: Bank of Bartlett, Bank of Little Rock, and Pembina County Bankshares.

To the detriment of consumers, innovations in banking tend to be conservative, late, and incremental, despite top talent and plenty of ideas. Is regulation backfiring?

Big banks reversed a buildup in long-dated bonds over the last two quarters, a reassuring development amid worries that they might “reach for yield.”

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is warning indirect auto lenders that they could be violating fair-lending laws by not clamping down on auto dealers who often mark up the loans they issue.

A settlement between New York and the nation's largest force-placed insurer will kill bank commissions in the state and could dramatically alter the structure of the specialty insurance industry.

Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., introduced a bill Thursday that would exempt financial institutions from having to send annual private notices if the disclosures haven’t changed from the year before.

The major regional debit networks have unanimously chosen Discover's technology for a common code, or application identifier, for routing EMV debit transactions in the U.S. — but the debate isn't over yet.

Examiners are noticing more competitive pricing and instances where banks are relaxing repayment and collateral requirements.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is planning a crackdown on the interest rate markups that auto dealers add onto the cost of car loans. Although it's dealers who originate the loans, the CFPB lacks the authority to regulate them directly. Bankers fear that as a result the agency will turn its focus to holding them accountable for monitoring loans made by the dealers with whom they work.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s Vice Chairman Thomas Hoenig said in a speech Wednesday that because bankers effectively corresponded with consumers leading up to the end of the Transaction Account Guarantee program, there was little impact.

American Banker's Editor at Large Barbara Rehm has an answer to the financial industry's hot button issue of "too big to fail."

Bank regulators on Thursday sent banks revised instructions on managinge potential risks from leveraged lending.