Opinions

The federal government has taken the unusual step of suing a dead bank president's estate for repayment of bailout funds the bank received during the financial crisis.

In nearly two decades of payday lending, Charlie Hallinan stayed one step ahead of state laws while amassing a fortune — one high-interest loan at a time.

The Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., convened a hearing where he and others criticized the Financial Stability Board for its lack of accountability and influence on U.S. regulators.

Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley is calling for breaking up the biggest U.S. banks, revamping the Federal Reserve and pursuing criminal cases against financial institutions that have broken the law.

Requiring brokers to come clean with customers about conflicts of interest sounds like an easy way to address biases. But disclosures are only effective if recipients understand how the conflict has influenced the advisor and have a way to correct that influence.

Federal and state regulators said the $216 million settlement against JPMorgan Chase is a warning that they are not finished targeting firms that mishandle collections or improperly resell bad debts.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has reintroduced a bill reviving provisions of the Depression-era law that separated commercial banking from riskier financial activity.

As Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew defended the legacy of the 2010 reform law, in another part of the capital a banker and Republican lawmakers pleaded for legislative changes.

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay more than $200 million to settle claims by federal and state authorities that the megabank wrongfully collected credit card payments on hundreds of thousands of consumers.

Trade finance has been quietly making a significant contribution to global growth. But regulations like Basel III could reduce its availability.