Regulation

The House Financial Services Committee is circulating a biting "Get Out of Jail Free" card following comments by Attorney General Eric Holder that confirmed a bank's size plays a role in deciding whether to prosecute certain crimes.

A payment processor and two principals are banned from processing electronic payments under a settlement resolving charges they debited, or tried to debit, millions of dollars from consumers’ bank accounts.

Risk management issues, fair lending infractions, money laundering violations and civil money penalties will remain on regulators’ radars in 2013.

Homeowners with underwater mortgages worst-hit by foreclosures are leading refinancings after the government expanded programs like the Home Affordable Refinance Program to aid borrowers, strengthening the weakest link in the housing recovery.

Staffing, policies and vendor relationships will draw scrutiny as community banks look for new ways to make money.

A shareholder lawsuit alleges current and former VeriFone executives made false and misleading statements about the company's financial performance to artificially inflate the stock price—duping unsuspecting investors and allowing executives to cash in millions of dollars' worth of stock.

At an industry conference Tuesday, the consumer bureau's second-in-command fielded questions on the pace of its work, the experience of its examiners, and whether it is putting an unfair burden on large banks.

Although lawmakers were ostensibly there to discuss the nominations to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Securities and Exchange Commission, the debate over "too big to jail" continued to dominate a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Tuesday.

Sen. Bob Corker raised concerns Tuesday about whether the Financial Stability Oversight Council could unwind a healthy bank solely due to concerns about whether the institution is "too big to fail."

The House passed a bill by voice vote Tuesday evening that would allow banks to opt out from sending unchanged annual privacy notices to customers, a measure the chamber previously passed during the lame duck session last year.