Law and regulation

Florida bank-buyer Bond Street Holdings bulked up on failure deals, took a 19-month break and has returned to M&A with the aim of $5 billion in assets by yearend.

Proponents of breaking up big banks trumpet Attorney General Eric Holder's complaint that some are too large to prosecute. But indicting companies for individual employees' actions would indeed be reckless.

Sens. Sherrod Brown, a liberal from Ohio, and David Vitter, a conservative from Louisiana, are an unlikely pair. But they have forged a working alliance and are committed to raising capital requirements on the biggest banks and reducing their size.

The nonexistence of "too big to fail" is swell news. Now taxpayers can stop worrying about future bailouts, the Federal Reserve can ease monetary policy and the Justice Department can prosecute the banks purportedly "too big to jail."

Community bankers should be more concerned about interest rate risk, mortgage rules and examiner's questions about strategic direction than anything the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau might do, regulators say.

Even if regulators restrict banks' ability to charge overdraft fees, those consumers who value banks that cover their overdrafts will find a way to reward institutions providing the best service.

State regulators in Georgia Friday closed the $259 million-asset Frontier Bank in LaGrange, the fourth institution to fail this year.

Bankers are bracing for the start of more severe anti-money laundering exams as regulators rework their standards and prepare to issue another round of guidance tackling the issue.

The Financial Services Roundtable last week announced the hiring of Eric Hoplin to be the group's vice president of communications and organizational strategy.

Firms have continued to plow money into bank deposits, but high liquidity ratios appear to be more a continuation of trends in place since the 1980s than a reaction to the financial crisis.

If you thought bankers were happy when Barney Frank left, try 'em now that Sen. Carl Levin has decided to retire next year and relinquish his hold on the aptly named Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is urging the Justice Department to investigate Lender Processing Services for double-billing of foreclosure-related legal fees.

The ATM Industry Association is calling for an extension to the April 19 deadline when ATM owners and operators are scheduled to become responsible for foreign transaction fraud, arguing the EMV migration timeline for the ATM industry should mirror the longer deadlines placed on merchants and retail point of sale.

MBIA lost an appeals court bid to recover from the FDIC at least $244 million of claims and expenses stemming from mortgage-backed securities issued by IndyMac, which failed in 2008.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. responds to two recent posts that cited its underbanked survey results.

Produce a video for members of Congress to watch that focuses on a typical banking transaction and shows the various laws, regulations and other issuances that come into play at every stage of the process.

William Loving believes that the banking industry will shrink at a much slower rate than what many predict.

The Federal Reserve Board released the first round of results from stress tests required under the Dodd-Frank Act. American Banker's Joe Adler asks and answers everyone's frequently asked questions.

The Treasury Department plans to auction its holdings in seven banks, including Flagstar Bancorp (FBC), as it continues to unwind the Troubled Asset Relief Program holdings.

The Federal Reserve board disclosed the initial round of results required under the Dodd-Frank law on the portfolios of the 18 largest bank holding companies.