Law and regulation

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.

"Attorney General Eric Holder's stunning admission that it was difficult to prosecute large banks because of the potential economic impact may be a turning point of the drive to break them up," writes American Banker's Rob Blackwell and Victoria Finkle.

Mouths dropped when Attorney General Eric Holder openly admitted that the government fears prosecuting big banks would harm the economy. But what about going after individual bankers for fraud? Does the Department of Justice really lack incriminating evidence — or just political will?

Cascade Bancorp (CACB), the holding company for the $1.3 billion-asset bank, said Thursday that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Oregon Division of Finance and Corporate Securities have terminated an August 2009 cease-and-desist order with the bank.

Banks have convinced policymakers, regulators and sometimes the courts that new regulations might be too expensive. However, the point of public intervention is to induce banks to take account of costs they impose on others.

BIPS’ strategy: Make it easy for merchants to get started with Bitcoin, aggregate their balances with the company, and make money over time on foreign exchange conversion and premium services.

The move to align the Southwest Airlines and AirTran frequent flier credit cards under the same issuing bank is just one stop in the route toward the eventual merger of the two carriers' affinity programs.