Opinions

Market volatility is fueling fears of a large institution collapse, but regulators are unlikely to act unless the situation gets a lot worse.

WASHINGTON — A panel of House members will meet next week in Georgia, the epicenter of bank failures nationwide, for a hearing on whether bank examiners have become overly strict.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., named three Democrats to the Joint Select Deficit Committee on Thursday, finalizing the list of 12 lawmakers who will try to reduce the budget deficit by $1.5 trillion this fall.

Maine Attorney General William Schneider's office reached an agreement with Texas-based debt management company Credit Solutions of America Inc. to settle charges of unfair trade practices.

The article "Bankers Fear 'Witch Hunt' in Government Pursuit of Fair Lending Cases" [Aug 2] chronicles the response of bankers, advocates, the Department of Justice itself, and others to "an aggressive push by the Justice Department to investigate fair lending claims..." and "...the launch last year of a special fair-lending unit within Justice's civil rights division...investigating claims of bank discrimination in their credit policies."

Community bankers have a chance to have our issues heard over the next few months on the national front.

Changes to expungement procedures have made it tougher for brokers to sanitize their records, but a continuing practice may help them avoid disclosing certain details that should be public.

Neither the questions nor the answers lived up the hype during the 90-minute public conference call hosted by investor Bruce Berkowitz.

Democrats and Republicans choose hard-liners as co-chairs of joint committee on deficit reduction, suggesting compromise may be hard to reach.

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators are seeking input on new options for selling foreclosure properties owned by the government sponsored enterprises and the Federal Housing Administration.