Policy & Regulation

A pair of healthy banks destined to be partners are nearing deadline as investors anxiously wait.

This is the time of year when bank boards of directors and management begin the strategic planning process for the following year. There will be few years in the careers of any of us that will provide as many seemingly one-time events as will this coming year, 2012.

In testimony on Capitol Hill, Freddie Mac chief executive officer Charles Haldeman Jr. and Fannie Mae president and CEO Michael Williams said that competitive salaries and bonuses are necessary to keep employees who can run the firms effectively.

It's time for our regulators to think broadly about what our financial system needs and then take a stand. Simply grinding out Dodd-Frank proposals that no one understands — like the risk-retention proposal and the Volcker Rule release — is not the answer.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is asking students, colleges and lenders for information on the private student loan market that will inform a joint report to Congress required by the Dodd-Frank Act.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has established new guidelines governing the setting up and management of offsite ATMs in hopes of spreading financial inclusion across the country.

A lawsuit by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office against Unicredit America Inc.'s former president can continue even though he declared bankruptcy.

The U.S. Treasury is looking beyond the insured banking system in an effort to improve the delivery of viable credit alternatives to consumers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received a clean bill of health from the Government Accountability Office in its first annual report of the bureau's finances.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac late Tuesday afternoon released a somewhat detailed bulletin on the underwriting guidelines for refinancing underwater borrowers with GSE loans, segmenting what's allowable based on the loan-to-value (LTV) and if the product is being offered by the current servicer.