Law and regulation

Just when you thought it couldn't get any nastier between banks and credit unions, the credit unions are opposing a TAG extension that many small banks have been pushing for.

Anywhere in the world, if you had $55 billion in capital, and then lost $55 billion, your capital would be zero. But under the Fed’s own special accounting rule, if it lost $55 billion, its capital would still be $55 billion.

Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren successfully beat out GOP incumbent Sen. Scott Brown securing herself a spot on the Senate Banking Committee.

Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren has secured a spot on the Senate Banking Committee and she'll be joined by Sen. Joe Manchin, according to a Democratic Senate aide.

Better communication can improve the relationship between banks and their regulators.

A sharp rise in noninterest income — including gains on asset sales — helped banks and thrifts record their best quarterly earnings total in six years, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said Tuesday.

Banks often choose not to bring questions about products, terms and marketing to regulators, citing fear of retribution from front-line examiners. Creation of the CFPB separates consumer policymaking from examination activities, offering hope for open, clear communication.

House Republicans are preparing to add several members to the Financial Services Committee next year, as well as kicking two current members off the panel.

Curry praised banks' tighter mortgage underwriting standards but cautioned that they are squeezing out potential borrowers, particularly low-income families and minorities

Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, is leaving Congress in February to head the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

With just a few short weeks until Congress adjourns for the year, Washington is experiencing a rush of activity covering everything from a potential extention of the TAG program to the delay of the Volcker and remittance rules. Following were the highlights of last week:

Stewart Larsen, Bank of the West's head of mortgage lending, still frets about pending regulation, but he prefers to stay focused on matters he can control.

Several important bills, including one protecting information banks share with the CFPB and another nixing the requirement that banks have a physical sign disclosing ATM fees, could be poised for passage in the Senate during the lame duck session. But the fate of others, including an extension of TAG, is less clear.

The money in TAG accounts is the hottest of the hot. If interest rates rise, these funds will disappear, hurting liquidity and capital for the banks that use the program.

Adyen is launching a portable card reader that accepts both mag-stripe and EMV chip-card payments — the latter a feature that’s still rare in the U.S. even at hard-wired point of sale terminals.

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Ameris Bancorp (ABCB) in Moultrie, Ga., will redeem preferred shares it had issued to the Treasury Department as part of the Trouble Asset Relief Program.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling is criticizing a provision in a House-approved immigration bill that would extend higher guarantee fees at the government-sponsored enterprises.

The mood at a consumer finance conference Friday was one of anxiety about the pace of the housing recovery, the onslaught of new rules and the federal government's long-term role in housing finance.

President Obama formally approves confirmations of Martin Gruenberg to run the FDIC and for Thomas Hoenig to be the vice chairman.