Regulation

American Express Co. finds itself swirling in the middle of anti-trust litigation and proposed settlements that the company isn't directly a party to.

HSBC, the $2.7 trillion-asset company, said Wednesday it has named James Comey, a former U.S. deputy attorney general, to its board and formed a new board committee to oversee compliance with laws that aim to deter money laundering and other crimes.

Many of the nation's largest financial institutions lowered their spending on lobbying the federal government in 2012, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. Although data is only available through Dec. 4, 2012, the reports suggest that year-end spending will be down significantly from 2011. That trend may reflect lower expectations for major legislative changes during a presidential election year.

CO-OP Financial Services hopes the model used in one of the oldest staples of credit union cooperation, the shared branch, can drive new digital commerce innovation such as person-to-person payments.

Christy Romero, the inspector general monitoring Tarp, says the same financial institutions deemed too big to fail have only gotten bigger.

A legislator in San Francisco is seeking a review of possible losses to the city from banks' alleged manipulation of a benchmark that determines the price at which banks lend to one another.

Sens. Sherrod Brown and Chuck Grassley are requesting information about the Justice Department's prosecutorial decisions regarding some of the country's biggest financial institutions.

Without a permanent director, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has no authority to create or enforce regulations against nonbanks. However, attorneys and industry consultants say several recent mortgage regulations approved by Richard Cordray may still be upheld.

A federal appeals court ruling last week might force Democrats to cut a deal with Republicans over the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The state is receiving a notably large share of national mortgage settlement benefits because of the level of harm the state sustained during our nation's mortgage crisis.