Policy & Regulation

WASHINGTON — President Obama on Friday nominated Richard Berner to become the first director of the Treasury Department's new Office of Financial Research.

Timothy Burniston, the former senior associate director for the Fed's division of consumer and community affairs, has joined Wolters Kluwer Financial Services.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has named Kristie K. Elmquist its Dallas regional director.

The CFPB's Office of Servicemember Affairs is reaching out to the banking and mortgage industries, as well as to members of the military and their families, to help raise awareness about financial challenges — from foreclosures to payday loans — and products that work for them.

As much as I would like to offer tidings of comfort and joy, I fear that 2012 is shaping up to be the year of extreme risks. These risks may not materialize into live problems, but it is best that bankers be prepared, particularly since at least some of the rotten plums are already baked into the Christmas pudding.

Banks won't be happy that a company not subject to federal supervision is filling a void that they, as regulated institutions, were forced to leave.

Former radio DJ Steve Streit has shepherded prepaid marketer Green Dot from its early days to its hard-won Fed blessing to buy a bank.

The agreement temporarily settles a partisan fight over funding for the two agencies responsible for implementing Dodd-Frank rules on derivatives.

A merchant industry group sings its own praises on debit interchange rules … and threatens new fights.

Lots of bankers have lost their focus on customers, lending and costs. Instead they tune in on distractions, such as politics and regulatory policy. I don't think that's good, but let's use it to shape a strategy that gets results.