Law and regulation

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized its first rule and took its first enforcement actions this year, but its most challenging work is still to come.

From exposes of questionable practices at megabanks to incursions onto bank turf by nontraditional players, these are American Banker's most popular stories of 2012.

An executive from a Missouri bank has been elected as chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines.

Covenant Bank in Chicago could fail if it does not raise fresh capital soon.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday slightly raised the asset threshold for banks that are required to collect certain mortgage disclosure data, increasing it by $1 million to $42 million.

Small banks continue to pull in significant revenue from interchange fees on debit cards despite fears a new rule directed at larger institutions could have hurt them too, according to a report issued this week by the Federal Trade Commission.

"Deposit fee" is one of the more popular terms being used in new naming conventions, while some banks are scrapping their fees altogether.

A House panel ended a probe of alleged preferential lending by Countrywide Financial to lawmakers and aides without taking action, saying the "serious matters" submitted for review fall outside its jurisdiction.

The Franklin County (Wash.) Clerk's Office has surpassed $1 million in collections for one year for the first time, a decade after it decided to chase convicted criminals for fines and court costs.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has named Gateway Bank CEO Jeffrey Cheung to a minority advisory committee, and he spilled the beans a little early

Successful banks are, among other things, focusing on education and employee training courses, establishing a formal enterprise risk management department and tying compensation to clearly defined best practices.

California, by holding out for a $12 billion side deal with Chase, Wells and B of A, secured a far larger share of the settlement than fairness would seem to dictate.

U.S. regulators are facing a series of difficult choices as they weigh how to finalize Basel III capital and liquidity rules next year, including how closely they adhere to an international agreement or whether they make changes for smaller institutions.

The FTC released a report that said small banks continue to pull in significant revenue from interchange fees on debit cards despite fears that the Durbin amendment would hurt them as much as larger institutions.

These financial services executives won't be sorry to see this year end and are hoping for better results in 2013.

The board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati has reelected Carl F. Wick, a former NCR executive, as its chairman. B. Proctor Caudill Jr. was also reelected as vice chairman, the bank said.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has sanctioned five firms for charging additional fees on municipal and state bond offerings to pay a lobbying organization.

A U.S. appeals court has reversed the dismissal of a shareholder class action brought against VeriFone in the wake of its 2007 earnings restatement of three quarters from that year, the company stated in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

OceanFirst Financial in Toms River, N.J., expects to increase its fourth-quarter loan-loss provision because of Hurricane Sandy and new regulatory guidance for borrowers who have filed for bankruptcy.

The industry returned to sustainable (albeit tepid) profitability this year and housing appears to have bottomed. Regulatory fines and litigation continue to cast a pall on the future, however.