Policy & Regulation

The Federal Housing Finance Agency on Thursday extended the government's Home Affordable Refinance Program for an additional two years through 2015. The program was set to expire at the end of this year.

As part of a regular update of its finances, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said it will return amounts from the 2009 prepayment that were unnecessary.

Lawmakers grilled the OCC and Fed on Thursday over the failed independent foreclosure review, including their extensive use of independent consultants to carry out much of the work.

Share buybacks have been dormant at big banks and dividends remain slim, but capital payouts are gaining momentum after this winter’s stress tests.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have jointly adopted new rules to enable financial firms to set up programs to locate evidence of attempts to steal personal information and to deter identity theft.

Websites critical of a settlement that Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. reached with retailers over so-called swipe fees are misleading and must be corrected, a federal judge said.

MasterCard will vet all Maestro card transactions at U.S. ATMs with fraud-screening software to alleviate the concerns of ATM owners who are not prepared for the card brand’s April 19 liability shift.

The sensitivity now present at the highest levels of the Fed, OCC and FDIC offers great promise to consumers looking to acquire responsible loans from the banking industry.

President Obama met Thursday with chief executives from the largest U.S. banks, including Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, according to a White House official.

The OCC is seeking enforcement powers against the consultants it requires banks to hire, but having such authority may be a limited fix at best.