Regulation and compliance

The Federal Reserve has been reducing its liabilities steadily since last March, and those effects are starting to be felt. But how low it should ultimately go — and how long it can stay low — is a tricky question.

Despite regulatory efforts, applications for traditional new banks often now require lengthier review periods for approval than in the last several decades. Here are some key ways to lighten this burden.

After remaining above $2 trillion for a year, the Federal Reserve's overnight reverse repurchase facility has seen steadily less use in recent months. The development is welcomed by banks, but could be a sign that certain financial players are shifting funds to riskier activities.

Banking crises always recur. But time and again, bankers have been shown to operate on the assumption that good times are permanent.

Banks have offered a more tepid critique of regulatory proposals to expand resolution planning and long-term debt for regional banks, suggesting the industry is intent on curbing July's Basel III capital proposal instead.

The company is paying $75 million in penalties and restitution in connection with SEC allegations that its investment advisory arm overcharged customers it inherited in its Wachovia acquisition in 2008. The settlement is said to show the importance of conducting extensive compliance checks in a rapidly consolidating industry.

Comerica CEO Curt Farmer and CFO James Herzog as well as the company itself face a purported class action by shareholders for allegedly making false and misleading statements about the Dallas company's oversight of the Treasury Department's Direct Express program.