Regulation

Details in recent legislation unveiled by Sens. Tim Johnson and Mike Crapo are stoking fresh concerns among Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders now embroiled in lawsuits over their share of profits from the mortgage giants.

The organization that runs the automated clearing house network wants to phase in same-day payments in three stages, but backers of a speedier system say the plan -- the second such effort in two years -- still is not enough.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new examination procedures for mortgage originations include strict quality controls for mortgage documents.

Banks and credit unions are more worried about regulatory and risk management pressures than they were a year ago, according to a new report from Wolters Kluwer Financial Services.

Recent guidance from the Justice Department and Treasury was intended to clarify federal policy. Policy statements, however well meaning, do not provide true legal protection. Only legislation can do that.

Treasury's Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group will include a member of the virtual-currency community to help make regulations "better informed and more effective," David S. Cohen, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said today.

Virtual currencies will benefit from government oversight that lends credibility to the market, according to the U.S. Treasury Department's top official targeting money laundering.

The settlement monitor gave the banks credit for $20 billion in relief — less than half the total provided, since only partial credit was given for breaks other than principal reduction.

Most banks and payment processors are in no hurry to help marijuana sellers accept credit card payments where the substance can be legally sold, despite a clear opportunity to modernize what is largely a cash-based market.

The bill released by Sens. Tim Johnson and Mike Crapo would create a reinsurance fund to recoup losses on securities, establish a common securitization platform for the secondary mortgage market and open access to the secondary market for smaller lenders through a cooperative.