Policy & Regulation

American Express' joint travel venture may get delayed as it awaits regulatory approval, CFO Jeff Campbell told investors Jan 16.

WASHINGTON — Good bank supervision is the best wait to limit risks to the financial system, but monetary policy can be used to promote stability in rare instances, Federal Reserve Gov. Jeremy Stein said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said his agency is increasingly concerned about the cybersecurity risks from banks relying too much on certain vendors and using service providers in foreign countries.

As drafted, the Johnson-Crapo bill would allow big banks to originate, aggregate, and guarantee mortgages. Small lenders worry such vertically integrated companies could price them out of the business.

Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., urged regulators on Wednesday to tighten restrictions on banks involved in physical commodities markets.

Bank of America Corp. is paying $950 million to settle claims that its Countrywide unit pooled faulty mortgages into securities that helped hobble Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. and saddled buyers with losses.

Demand for loans by consumers and businesses grew in the first quarter, according to a Federal Reserve report released Wednesday.

The Obama administration is urging activists like the National Council of La Raza to support legislation to overhaul the housing finance market, ahead of a Senate Banking Committee vote scheduled for late April.

A poor showing for a bank in the Dodd-Frank stress test would need to be reflected in a counterparty bank's internal rating system, potentially restricting the bank's access to market liquidity.

The moves are part of a recent trend of banks exiting businesses that they believe have fallen out of favor with regulators.