Policy & Regulation

Big banks have gotten an unfair rap and regulators an unjustified free pass since the financial crisis -- so argues longtime banking industry analyst Richard X. Bove in a new book. The outspoken Bove, now with Rafferty Capital Equity Research, tells American Banker why he believes the Dodd-Frank Act was unnecessary and federal regulators to blame for failing to prevent the crisis.

The European Commission is sticking to its original Single Euro Payment Area migration deadline of next month, but is establishing a grace period of an extra six months for banks and businesses struggling to make the switch to euro payment formats.

The Dodd-Frank Act and other financial regulations enacted in the wake of the financial crisis have made banking a "worse place" by adding unwieldy and unnecessary restrictions on big banks, says Dick Bove. The longtime bank analyst also points a finger at regulators for failing to adequately enforce existing regulations in the lead-up to the crisis, a point he discusses at length, while defending big banks, in a new book.

Fearless forecasts from BankThink's stable of industry veterans, experts and critics.

Members of the Senate Banking Committee and others are raising concerns about the credibility of a pending watchdog report analyzing whether some banks are still "too big to fail," suggesting some experts it relies on may be too closely tied to Wall Street.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) lost a bid to throw out a lawsuit by the California attorney general alleging that the largest U.S. bank by assets illegally tried to collect debt from about 100,000 credit-card borrowers.

The authors of banking law have shown a strong and recurring interest in name-identification with their work. Eponyms can provoke emotional reactions and facilitate the merger of persona and policy.

Chamber of Commerce CEO Thomas Donohue, addressing reporters following the group's annual "State of American Business" address, said the potential reach of the Volcker Rule into smaller, midsized banks was not the intended effect.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., introduced legislation Wednesday that aims to provide the public with more accurate and detailed information about settlements between companies and federal agencies.

A group of lawmakers is stepping up pressure on regulators to adopt a narrow exemption for small banks under the Volcker Rule to address concerns over the treatment of collateralized debt obligations backed by trust-preferred securities.