Policy & Regulation

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and from our social media platforms.

A statement by a foreign regulator that it might penalize banks that drop businesses due to heightened supervisory risk has spooked U.S. institutions who worry domestic agencies could follow suit.

Housing affects too many Americans to simply cast out government involvement, especially where the government-sponsored entities and Ginnie Mae are concerned.

itBit, the startup Bitcoin exchange whose backers include former FDIC chairman Sheila Bair, has become the first digital currency firm to receive a trust charter under New York banking law.

Fannie Mae, the mortgage-finance company operating under U.S. conservatorship, will pay the Treasury Department $1.8 billion after reporting net income of $1.9 billion for the first quarter.

The regulators have spelled it out: If a bank wants relief from onerous compliance requirements, a path to get there is to use simple, basic practices for credit risk management.

Ocwen Financial failed a test to determine whether it had notified borrowers of missing or incomplete documents for loan modifications in a timely manner, according to the national mortgage settlement monitor.

Internal Revenue Service examiners are conducting bank-like exams of virtual currency firms for possible anti-money laundering violations, Financial Crime Enforcement Network Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery said May 6.

Four former officers of Wilmington Trust have been charged with fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which accused the bankers of intentionally understating past-due loans in 2009 and 2010. Two of the bankers face criminal charges.

While the penalty is a blow to Ripple Labs, it could have significant implications for the industry at large and its efforts to legitimize itself in the eyes of regulators and banks. Here's how: