Regulation

Mary Jo White, Obama's nominee to head the SEC, received near-unanimous support from the Senate Banking Committee during a vote Tuesday morning, while backing for Richard Cordray, director of the CFPB, was split as expected along party lines.

Rewriting the longstanding structures of corporate law and the roles and responsibilities of bank boards could create chaos in the global corporate and financial structures.

The London Whale, the attorney general's "too big to jail" bombshell and stress test failures have all added to the calls for big banks to split up. For the first time since the financial crisis, shotgun breakups are becoming a very real possibility.

There's an emerging bipartisan consensus on the way forward for the secondary mortgage market. But as Congress has punted, the FHFA is taking significant steps without hearings or public discussion.

Equifax Information Services agreed to pay nearly $400,000 to settle charges the company sold lists of millions of consumers who were late on their mortgages.

While the federal government's in a cost-cutting mood, electronic payment providers are actively promoting their wares to the agencies and companies affected by the new constraints.

A bill by Minnesota's Rep. Keith Ellison would cap the mortgage interest deduction at the first $500,000 of a home loan and use the anticipated savings to invest in low- and moderate-income housing.

WASHINGTON — The federal bank regulators on Monday proposed several revisions to their guidance for complying with Community Reinvestment Act regulations.

Rep. Mel Watt is said to be on the shortlist to serve as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, but it remains to be seen if he or any nominee can survive the Senate confirmation process.

A levy assessed on bank customers for their savings — as is being proposed in the Cyprus bailout — seems unimaginable in the U.S., yet may stoke bank runs in Europe and elsewhere.