Policy & Regulation

Brown-Vitter is a welcome display of bipartisanship. But its proposed solution to “too big to fail,” equity capital, is only marginally effective in imposing discipline on management.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller's office is heading an investigation into credit card collection practices, specifically focusing on the paperwork banks give to debt buyers.

Liberty Reserve provided a service that had a true market demand from legitimate business sectors and from non-criminals, notwithstanding the government’s claim that “virtually all” its business was illicit. If banks and traditional financial institutions still respected basic client privacy and facilitated some form of digital payments that did not always involve harmful reversibility to the merchants, then companies like Liberty Reserve wouldn't even be necessary.

The FDIC's decision to fund its emergency needs by calling upon banks to prepay future premiums back in 2009 suggests that the line to the Treasury may never be used.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council on Monday identified certain nonbank companies as potential threats to financial stability. Although it did not release names, AIG, Prudential and GE Capital later confirmed they were the firms initially tapped by the council.

Overdraft revenue at banks, thrifts and credit unions has stagnated over the last year, according to new research, as the industry absorbs the impact of past regulations and braces for potential future ones.

Regulation should be strong enough to protect investors yet business-minded enough to promote active derivatives, mortgage and other markets, says Judd Gregg, a former New Hampshire lawmaker and new chief executive of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

A proposal that banks break down their deposit fee income by overdraft charges and other revenue sources in quarterly call reports has sparked a debate over whether the reporting process should aid the development of consumer policy.

Reforming the housing finance system cannot and should not be rushed, especially since we lack basic information on the likely impact of the various proposed alternatives.

Prospects for a new trade agreement with the European Union are being threatened by measures that would boost capital requirements for the biggest banks, a group representing U.S. chief executive officers said in a letter.