Law and regulation

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to be inundated with comments on how to rework the proposed 3% cap on loan origination points and fees.

The act clearly stipulates that the Senate be involved in appointing the CFPB. Recess appointments, constitutional or not, are impermissible.

The ABA is raising concerns about a credit union's potential plans to change its field of membership from just Lutherans to serve all Christian denominations.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was clearly dedicated to making the Financial Stability Oversight Council work, despite doubts the group of financial regulators would prove unwieldy and ineffective. The question remains, however, whether his nominated successor, Jack Lew, will be as committed to the council.

The quality of lending for most types of loans is likely to remain fairly steady this year, according to a survey of loan officers released Monday by the Federal Reserve Board.

Dodd-Frank repealed the ban on paying interest on business checking accounts. No longer necessary to circumvent that restriction, sweep accounts with overnight repos can still protect and retain high-balance depositors.

The CEO of the country's largest bank sounded off once again, admitting mistakes and waving the banner for banks on Monday in Miami.

Sections of Dodd-Frank and the JOBS Act have made allowances for certain community banks but, whether by design or oversight, have left small thrifts to fend for themselves.

The month of January closed out on a week of surprises, with an unexpected change near the top of the OCC, and a lawmaker's unanticipated push for a new structure at that agency in addition to the CFPB. Following are the six stories you didn't want to miss:

Under pressure from consumer groups and regulators, Urban Trust Bank (UTB) of Lake Mary, Fla., has agreed to stop charging overdraft fees on its prepaid cards.

Net interest margins continued to come under pressure in the fourth quarter. Net interest income, aided by loan growth, held up better.

A unit of Palmetto Bancshares in Greenville, S.C., has shed an enforcement order with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Visa Inc. contravened Australia's consumer protection laws by preventing buyers from using a currency of their choice when shopping, the country's competition regulator said.

Visa Inc. says its EMV chip technology will be available to create a common code for debit transactions to allow merchants to choose networks as mandated by federal law — a move that could address a key obstacle in the U.S.

It's shopping season in the payments industry. Just last month, Ingenico, ACI Worldwide and Fidelity National Information Services announced separate acquisitions. Many other companies have bought their peers in recent months.

Sen. Jerry Moran has reintroduced a bill to overhaul the structure of the CFPB in the wake of a controversial court ruling last month.

Sen. Michael Crapo, the new ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee, discussed his priorities for the year in a sit-down interview with American Banker. During the interview, he also pushed for structural changes at the CFPB, and suggested they are needed at the OCC too.

Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to pay roughly $790 million to settle charges by regulators it manipulated a benchmark used to determine the rate at which banks loan to one another.

After the undermining of President Obama's recess appointment of Richard Cordray as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's director and talk swirling that Democrats may seek to cut a deal with Republicans, many of whom seek to scale back the agency, Sen. Elizabeth Warren may be the one who can save the CFPB.

Safety and soundness in banking will be found more in changes in oversight than regulation.