Regulation

"I don’t know that we’ll get there by the end of the year," Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser said Monday, becoming the latest official to warn that regulators may not be able to finalize the Volcker rule by the much-promised deadline.

The swelling trillion-dollar student loan market is missing key data and regulations necessary to head off another financial crisis, according to Rohit Chopra, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's top official in charge of dealing with student loans.

The U.S. Justice Department is "aggressively investigating" possible manipulation of foreign exchange rates by a number of banks, Deputy Attorney General James Cole said.

The movement of people between the private and public sectors is only a problem when it results government officials identifying with the industries they regulate. In other cases, the comings and goings can actually help the financial system, says Neil Barofsky, a former prosecutor who recently joined law firm Jenner & Block.

Democratic lawmakers on Monday urged regulators to keep their promise to release a report by the end of the year that details an independent review of millions of borrowers who faced foreclosure.

Lenders are mostly relieved that regulators broadened an exemption for mortgage securitizers to avoid a 5% risk retention requirement, but some are focusing on the plan’s potential impact on securities backed by leveraged commercial loans.

Seeking to narrow the range of activities in which well-capitalized and well-managed bank holding companies can engage is a mistaken endeavor. Prohibiting activities will lessen competition, increase risk and raise costs for customers.

As a fast, low-cost payment system, Bitcoin provides healthy competition for legacy banks. It's also a bulwark for financial privacy and freedom of speech.

First Financial Service in Kentucky and State Employees' Credit Union in North Carolina believes their products are responsible and avoid taking advantage of borrowers. But they are concerned that the CFPB could pressure them to end their programs.

The FTC on Monday announced a proposed settlement to resolve allegations that a payment processor and its owners used unfair tactics to open and maintain scores of merchant accounts for Infusion Media Inc., which perpetrated the “Google Money Tree” work-at-home scheme.