Regulation

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is projecting a nearly 8% decline in deposit insurance assessments this year with improvement in the indicators that determine institutions’ rates.

Members of the House Financial Services Committee grilled chief lawyers from the banking agencies on Tuesday, airing a wide range of grievances, including some related to a temporary Volcker Rule exemption and a Department of Justice crackdown on the payday loan industry.

The nationwide trade group for community banks is asking the Department of Justice to suspend its push to keep questionable merchants out of the mainstream payments system, arguing it is impacting community banks' competitiveness.

The eight largest financial institutions will have to raise roughly $68 billion over the next several years to meet a tough new leverage ratio finalized by regulators on Tuesday.

Cozy relations between bankers and presidents have faced plenty of criticism over the decades. But they've also proven to be a vital asset during crises and enabled the U.S. to emerge as-and remain-a financial superpower. So says Nomi Prins, author of All the Presidents' Bankers.

On its surface, the initial plan for a central bank looked like a fair deal for a country as geographically spread out as the United States. What did not receive publicity was the way in which it was structured to provide an easy supply of money to the nation's biggest banks.

Stepped-up scrutiny of Internet payday lenders, online pharmacies and other merchants that regulators and law enforcement view warily is forcing the payments industry to adapt.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Monday announced a partnership with libraries and other federal regulators to provide librarians with unbiased financial literacy education materials.

Barney Frank, Maxine Waters and nine other Democrats urged financial regulators in 2010 to consider Certus' charter as a way to create a large minority-run bank headed by managers of "unquestioned character." That bank's big problems since suggest that, at minimum, the vote of confidence was misguided.

The Federal Reserve's retail payments office announced Monday that it "fully supports" the most recent push within the banking industry to speed up electronic payments.