Regulation

Despite efforts to reform the global banking system, the perception that the world's largest financial institutions are "too big to fail" has yet to be eliminated, according to a report issued Monday by the International Monetary Fund.

The Federal Home Loan banks' Office of Finance said members are borrowing more, yet net income for the system fell from the previous year.

Two senior House Democrats are raising concerns about a highly anticipated House Financial Services subcommittee hearing scheduled for Wednesday to examine grievances filed by employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The number of financial complaints filed by consumers increased nearly 80% last year, to 160,000, according to a report released Monday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

WASHINGTON — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Office of Financial Research on Monday reached a deal on a joint project to collect data from registered swap repositories.

Small banks' increased compliance costs could lead to fewer relationship managers, streamlined service models and increased costs of credit. As such, many small business and middle-market customers may simply choose to take their business elsewhere.

To make the process fairer to small banks, regulators should issue community bank summaries during the proposal stage, not when releasing final rules. They also should do more outreach to small banks and extend comment periods on major rules, writes the ABA's Hugh Carney.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. issued two consent orders and terminated 21 enforcement actions in February, according to its latest roundup of regulatory orders.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

Trading revenue at banks and thrifts fell in the fourth quarter because of weak demand as well as seasonal patterns, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Friday.