Policy & Regulation

Standard Bancshares in Hickory Hills, Ill., announced on Wednesday that it had entered into a set of definitive agreements with a consortium of private-equity investors for more than $130 million.

The elections on Nov. 6 mostly delivered the status quo, but raised a host of questions about how lawmakers will tackle the fiscal cliff, big bank breakups and housing finance reform.

The New Jersey company, which had a disappointing third quarter, also entered into a written agreement with the OCC recently. The regulatory order will likely delay plans for the mutual holding company to pursue a second-step conversion, leading some analysts to peg Roma as a good acquisition target.

What do the next four years of an Obama administration hold for the Dodd-Frank Act? There may be less talk of repeal and rollbacks, but some Democrats in Congress are pushing the agencies implementing the law to heed industry suggestions.

A number of critical races for the banking industry have been decided, though votes are still being tallied in some election contests across the country. Democrats will maintain control in the Senate, while Republicans keep the majority in the House.We offer the results of ten tight races in the Senate and House that American Banker highlighted earlier this month as critical to the industry.

The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on the Basel III proposal on Nov. 14, according to a Senate aide.

Central Pacific said in a regulatory filing Tuesday that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. had lifted a memorandum of understanding that obligated the $4.3 billion-asset company’s bank to maintain adequate capital, improve asset quality, provide sufficiently for loan losses and reduce classified assets.

The current argument for new MMF "remedies" seems implicitly to be based on the assumption that runs cannot be anticipated and on the notion that the run that followed Reserve's action sprung unexpectedly and without warning from the Lehman filing.

C1 Bank's purchase of U.S. Century Bank in Florida is reportedly being delayed because of difficulty navigating the seller's exit from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Success of the CFPB/FHFA Mortgage database will depend on how regulators handle four areas: Collaboration, scope, privacy and the regulatory burden, writes columnist Clifford Rossi.