Policy & Regulation

San Bernardino County is forging ahead with deliberations on a proposal to seize underwater mortgages, despite its largest city's decision to seek bankruptcy. But industry members say the bankruptcy could interrupt funding for the plan.

With new entrants from China, fresh capital could be made available to entrepreneurs and business owners who otherwise might fail to find financing. Also, remember the fears in the 1980s that the Japanese were buying up America?

Dozens of small banks have substantially increased commercial and industrial lending over the past few years. Supervisors are worried that some may be chasing unfamiliar business down a blind alley.

International Bancshares (IBOC) in Laredo, Texas, has repurchased $40 million of preferred stock that it issued to the Treasury Department under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Members of the GOP-controlled House once again debated the impact — and potential pitfalls — of a section of the Dodd-Frank Act, with the subject du jour concerning so-called QM regulation.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed two new rules regarding mortgages. One is intended to simply mortgage forms and disclosures. The second would lower broaden the definition of a "high-cost loan" and tighten the rules for them.

If the government could eliminate contract rights in this way, then it would be hard to imagine what contracts could not be set aside in the name of market efficiency.

The government has failed to publicly vet its use of auctions to dispose of its remaining Troubled Asset Relief Program holdings. That leaves too many questions unanswered about its exit plans.

John Allison, the former chairman and CEO of BB&T, recently agreed to become the president and CEO of the Cato Institute, a leading libertarian think tank. He joins a growing list of former bank executives who are trying their hand at something totally unrelated to banking.

Barb Pacheco of the Kansas City Fed is keeping a close eye on mobile payment innovation, to help steer the course of new initiatives and to determine what regulators' role will be.