Policy & Regulation

WASHINGTON — Regulators on Friday announced they had finalized guidelines proposed in March that attempt to encourage banks' community development activities beyond their immediate markets.

Republic Mortgage Insurance Corp. has agreed to pay a $100,000 penalty and stop providing allegedly illegal kickbacks to mortgage lenders as part of a proposed settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board on Friday approved Ally Financial Inc.'s revised capital plan after objecting to it earlier this year.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) this week.

When faced with the need to conduct an internal investigations, bankers will do themselves a favor by pursuing them with the vigor. Otherwise, neither company directors or outside regulators are likely to buy the line that a bank is serious about addressing its flaws, says Neil Barofsky, an attorney who previously served as a prosecutor and inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

In a report released Thursday, the Government Accountability Office urged the Federal Reserve Board and other regulators to finalize key provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act that are designed to decrease government support to big banks and improve bank oversight going forward.

The central bank is making clear it has doubts about the private sector's ability to implement a faster electronic payments system on its own.

Bill Ackman's hedge fund-firm took stakes in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-backed mortgage insurers that investor Bruce Berkowitz is seeking to restructure, and said it may seek talks with management, shareholders and the government.

Moody's downgraded the ratings of Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon by one notch on Thursday.

The central bank is making clear it has doubts about the private sector's ability to implement a faster electronic payments system on its own.