Regulation

Standard Bancshares in Hickory Hills, Ill., has completed a capital raise from private-equity firms and named two directors.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office has ordered two Buffalo, N.Y. debt collection agencies to shut down for deceptive practices.

BlackBerry is testing whether the money-transfer business will help the smartphone maker keep users hooked on its instant-messaging service.

First Security Group (FSGI) in Chattanooga, Tenn., is poised to raise $90 million from institutional investors.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency hasn't explained why it stopped Fannie Mae from slashing its hazard insurance costs by hundreds of millions of dollars. The regulator's decision certainly benefits major banks, however, leading critics to cry foul.

House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling continued criticism of the Dodd-Frank law and the CFPB during remarks at a credit union conference on Tuesday.

If U.S. know-your-customer rules required banks to identify and scrutinize foreign recipients in addition to the senders of money, other countries would likely return the favor.

Banks and thrifts earned $34.7 billion in the fourth quarter to close out 2012 with the second biggest full-year profit ever, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Tuesday.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have now become the gatekeepers for underwriting qualified mortgages. This guidance might be a safe harbor from litigation, but history indicates it may fail as a safe harbor from risky lending.

The FHFA abruptly killed a Fannie Mae plan earlier this month that promised to save the GSE hundreds of millions of dollars in force-placed insurance premiums. Critics see industry pressure as the culprit.