Law and regulation

Payment technology is gaining momentum and changing rapidly. More and more places around the world are adopting unique methods of payment.

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has closed the $58.4 million-asset Covenant Bank on Chicago's West Side.

In her first extensive interview since becoming the lead Democrat on the House banking panel, Rep. Maxine Waters says she has learned a lot from watching former Rep. Barney Frank's leadership and will strive to emulate his example.

Late-night comedian Stephen Colbert's show on Feb. 14 was almost entirely devoted to financial services issues, including an attack on Wells Fargo's decision to fire a call center employee and a cameo by Sheila Bair.

Bankers want to get a better understanding of how to run their businesses at a time of regulatory uncertainty.

The anonymous digital currency Bitcoin, which is already accepted on the Wordpress blogging site, has another mainstream partner. Reddit, the social news and entertainment site, now accepts bitcoins as payment for Reddit Gold, a subscription service.

The American Bankers Association announced Feb. 12 that Jason Kratovil has been hired as vice president and deputy executive director for the ABA's Card Policy Council. His first day is Feb. 19.

A report by the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets blog highlights which lawmakers are often borrowers.

In a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the agency needed to guard against unclear and inefficient supervision, recommending several changes.

President Obama's executive order on cybersecurity calls on intelligence agencies to share information about digital threats with the private sector, but the agencies may have trouble sharing information themselves.

Boosting regulatory oversight of Wall Street firms will better allocate examiner resources to the riskiest financial firms and help reduce unnecessary burdens on community banks.

At a Senate Banking Committee hearing on the implementation of Dodd-Frank, Sen. Elizabeth Warren demanded to know why regulators are not pursuing banks in court.

The American Airlines and US Airways merger will heat up the competition between the two large issuing banks behind the airlines' rewards credit card programs, Citigroup Inc. and Barclays plc.

Physical cash is on its way out and won't be missed, but even in an all-digital future the option of anonymous, untraceable consumer payments must remain

Labeling a firm "systemically important" will tip the competitive scales one way or the other – to no purpose, since the exercise is premised on a misunderstanding of the 2008 financial crisis.

The new proposal by the Financial Accounting Standards Board would reduce the number of categories used to classify loans and securities.

Senate Banking Committee members took turns Thursday questioning several top financial regulators on the implementation of Dodd-Frank, but freshman Sen. Elizabeth Warren turned up the heat on the lack of bank prosecutions.

The attorneys general of eight states are requesting to join three other states in a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Ally Financial is the first company to fulfill its requirements under the $25 billion national mortgage settlement, its top monitor said Thursday.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland has terminated an enforcement action against Rurban Financial (RBNF) in Defiance, Ohio, tied to its information-technology unit.