Policy & Regulation

Traditionally, objections to a merger deal are primarily fought over Community Reinvestment Act and consumer protection concerns. But the Massachusetts Democrat raised a new concern by citing fears on the size of the combined bank.

Elizabeth Warren filed papers Thursday to establish an exploratory committee, which will allow her to raise money for a potential Senate campaign.

The banking crisis in Georgia has spread to the state capital, as several lawmakers, including the governor, have personal ties to some of the state’s failed banks.

In theory, nearly everyone thought it was a good idea to require issuers of mortgage securities to hold onto some of the risk. But in creating an exemption to those rules, lawmakers have virtually guaranteed it won't happen. The inside story of how it happened.

WASHINGTON — Lending to small businesses in the U.S. declined last year as the economy struggled to recover from recession and access to credit only started to show signs of improvement, regulators said Thursday.

Federal regulators are intensifying their scrutiny of the U.S. arms of European banks amid concerns about those institutions' abilities to fund themselves, according to people familiar with the matter.

U.S. Representative Barney Frank, the senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, asked the Federal Reserve to extend its examination of Capital One Financial Corp.'s acquisition of ING Direct USA.

Jeff Gerrish, a lawyer in Memphis who spends a lot of his time advocating on behalf of community banks to federal regulators, sees a thawing in banker-regulator relations, but says it is one born of fatigue rather than enlightenment.

Wells Fargo & Co. is testing a monthly fee with some customers to offset revenue losses it expects on debit card payments. It said earlier this year that it would make changes because of the Fed's decision to cap interchange rates.

Secure Vault Payments, which lets consumers spend at online merchants without disclosing their bank account details, is expanding into more financial institutions through a deal with the vendor Jwaala.