Policy & Regulation

Following a wave of enforcement actions against global and national institutions, regulators are now scrutinizing the anti-money laundering controls of community banks, says Walter Mix, a consultant and former regulator. Examiners are raising questions about banks' transaction monitoring systems, as well as the documentation supporting decisions about enhanced due diligence (such as whether to file suspicious activity reports), he says.

The FDIC tries to take itself off the front lines of the battle over Operation Choke Point by formally withdrawing a list of high-risk merchants.

Lloyds Banking Group Plc, bailed out by British taxpayers during the financial crisis, will pay 218 million pounds ($370 million) in fines to U.K. and U.S. regulators after manipulating benchmark interest rates.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has withdrawn a list of merchant categories, including payday lenders, debt consolidation firms, pornography businesses and others, that it said warranted heightened attention by banks processing their transactions.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Monday that it has withdrawn a list of merchant categories, including payday lenders, debt consolidation firms, pornography businesses and others, that it said warranted heightened attention by banks processing their transactions.

Studies of whether big banks enjoy implicit funding subsidies should take into account the effect of post-Dodd-Frank legislation and regulation, write Aaron Klein and Peter Ryan of the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Zions Bancorp. in Salt Lake City is planning to raise $525 million in fresh capital to satisfy regulators' concerns about its ability to withstand a severe economic downturn.

Theories abound. So do bankers' frustrations. And regulators like FinCEN Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery promise the toughened stance is here to stay.

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Traditionally, August can be a wasteland for banking policy wonks as Congress takes a summer recess. But here's why next month could actually be an eventful one.