Policy & Regulation

Benjamin Lawsky, the head of New York's Department of Financial Services, on Wednesday called for regulators to hold individuals responsible for recent industry scandals. He also warned that his agency may ban some banks from certain businesses over money-laundering violations.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated a written agreement with Remer Bancorp. in Minnesota.

Operation Choke Point prosecutors were poised to resolve their first lawsuit against a bank, but then they ran into a federal judge in North Carolina with a fondness for citing "The Sopranos" and a deep skepticism of financial services and the settlement deal.

International Bitcoin businesses have been sizing up the African market for some time, but they face massive regulatory hurdles throughout much of the continent.

Details in recent legislation unveiled by Sens. Tim Johnson and Mike Crapo are stoking fresh concerns among Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders now embroiled in lawsuits over their share of profits from the mortgage giants.

The organization that runs the automated clearing house network wants to phase in same-day payments in three stages, but backers of a speedier system say the plan -- the second such effort in two years -- still is not enough.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new examination procedures for mortgage originations include strict quality controls for mortgage documents.

Banks and credit unions are more worried about regulatory and risk management pressures than they were a year ago, according to a new report from Wolters Kluwer Financial Services.

Recent guidance from the Justice Department and Treasury was intended to clarify federal policy. Policy statements, however well meaning, do not provide true legal protection. Only legislation can do that.

Treasury's Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group will include a member of the virtual-currency community to help make regulations "better informed and more effective," David S. Cohen, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said today.