Policy & Regulation

Participants in an alleged credit card laundering scheme have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they illegally helped provide access to payment networks, thereby enabling scammers to place bogus charges on consumers’ credit cards.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced settlements Wednesday with student banking business Higher One of New Haven, Conn., and WEX Bank of Midvale, Utah, for deceptive practices in the marketing of college and university debit accounts.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced settlements Wednesday with student banking business Higher One of New Haven, Conn., and WEX Bank of Midvale, Utah, for deceptive practices in the marketing of college and university debit accounts.

Privacy advocates were appalled by the cybersecurity act Congress passed in the omnibus spending bill, with its abandonment of data-privacy provisions that existed in earlier versions. Now consumer and business-client privacy is at the discretion of the banks and other private companies.

Regulators' recent focus on the leverage ratio to measure capital adequacy is similar to a golfer ignoring the shape, speed and cut of a putting green.

The ease with which Congress was able to take money from the Federal Reserve to pay for a highway transportation bill — by slashing the dividend the central bank pays large banks — is likely to encourage lawmakers to take another dip into the Fed's books next year.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency appears to be on course to decide next year whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should update their credit scoring models.

Both banks and Wall Street critics support a new Fed proposal to implement a countercyclical capital buffer on megabanks, but the two sides diverge on when and how the Fed would use it.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., has asked for more time for public comment on KeyCorp's proposed takeover of First Niagara Financial Group, and said more study is needed on the deal's potential economic impact on western New York.

A healthy bank culture can only be built from within, rather than as a compliance exercise to satisfy regulators.