Law and regulation

Giving regulators more levers to pull and buttons to push with respect to the financial system only creates a false sense of security. The new regulatory powers come with few meaningful accountability checks.

President Barack Obama plans to name White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew tomorrow as his choice for Treasury secretary, replacing Timothy F. Geithner, a person familiar with the process said.

Julie Williams, the former chief counsel at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, will be reunited with former Comptroller Eugene Ludwig.

William B. Harrison Jr., who helped create JPMorgan Chase, on Tuesday offered a resounding defense of megabanks and the good he said they do for customers and investors.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has left the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, more than six months after lawmakers called for his resignation because of JPMorgan's multibillion-dollar trading scandal.

While regulators have given U.S. banks extra time to comply with a contentious 'push-out' rule, many foreign banks are unintentionally ineligible for the relief, leaving questions about whether Congress or regulators will act to help them.

Timothy Ryan is stepping down as president and chief executive of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association next month, with former Rep. Kenneth Bentsen expected to take over.

The latest insurance company to leave banking behind is Shelter Insurance of Columbia, Mo., and the insurer blames the Dodd-Frank reform law.

The government agency has waived a compliance requirement for smaller community banks, removing a costly barrier of entry for hundreds of institutions.

With the new year, the Financial Stability Oversight Council has greater opportunity to take leadership roles in other areas.

Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) on Monday announced plans to introduce legislation to take away the Treasury Department's ability to mint money to pay the federal government's bills.

Sen. Michael Crapo, an Idaho Republican, expected to take over as ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee this year, was named chief deputy whip for his party on Tuesday.

Community banks participating in a government program upped their lending to small businesses by $7.4 billion over baseline levels during the third quarter, according to a report released Tuesday by the Treasury Department.

A group of angel investors including SecondMarket founder Barry Silbert has invested $510,000 in BitPay, a firm that processes payments for merchants in the digital currency Bitcoin.

The FTC has reached a settlement against Freedom Companies, those behind a scam operating from the Dominican Republic that peddled fake mortgage assistance to Spanish-speaking homeowners in the U.S.

Shelter Insurance joins the growing list of insurers that are unwinding their banks amid mounting costs related to Dodd-Frank.

Federal regulators announced Monday an $8.5 billion settlement with 10 banks as a result of alleged foreclosure abuses.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated an enforcement action against Farmers State Bank in Victor, Mont.

Dan Berger, the credit union group's executive vice president of government affairs, will succeed Fred Becker as chief executive.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision backed away from a strict international liquidity standard, giving more recognition to domestic funding structures.