Policy & Regulation

U.S. banks today are safer, sounder, more secure, transparent, accountable and are performing their critical roles in the global economy.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is likely to make changes to its proposal outlining the "heightened expectations" the largest banks must face after the industry raised concerns that certain provisions could backfire.

The most notable quotes from American Banker stories of the previous week. Readers are encouraged to add their own observations in the Comments fields at the bottom of each slide.

Banks need to take fewer risks and hold more capital, but recent regulations, including the Volcker rule, are "not cost-effective" for banks and "too expensive for the potential benefits." That's bank critic Anat Admati, the Stanford finance professor and co-author of "The Bankers' New Clothes," who also discusses big banks' corporate governance and recent probes into high-frequency trading.

WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen said Tuesday that the largest banks need to face higher capital requirements to stem potential risks to the financial system.

The proposed Small Lender Mutual cooperative would be expensive for small firms to capitalize, and its securities may get inferior pricing compared to those issued by large banks and nonbanks.

Banks identified as systemically important to the global economy face tighter rules on how much business they can do with each other as part of a push to limit the chance a single failure would drag down multiple lenders.

The federal push to stamp out illegal online lending is having unintended negative consequences, an umbrella group for state banking regulators says.

The Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to vote on its bill to overhaul the mortgage finance market on April 29, but questions are now being raised about whether that date will slip, as supporters struggle to secure additional votes.

The Senate Banking Committee is due to vote April 29 on a bill to revamp the housing finance system, though that date may slip. The legislation, by panel leaders Tim Johnson and Mike Crapo, had an auspicious start, with an equal number of members from each party among the dozen who came out in support of it. That's enough to pass the panel, but not sufficient to bring it to the Senate floor. Here are the other Dems the lawmakers are hoping to woo: