Regulation

The regulators' proposal doesn't consider accounting rules for deciding which trades are proprietary and which ones get the exemption for hedging. That leaves plenty of room for regulatory arbitrage by banks.

The dust-up over Jim Freis' dismissal as director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network reflects a fundamental disagreement between Treasury and Fincen over the role the agency plays and just how independent it should be.

American Banker's metro Washington reporters found themselves working above a crime scene on Wednesday, after a PNC bank branch in the same building was robbed.

But the consulting firm says the sector remains an integral part of the U.S. financial system and cautions against overregulating it.

The Board of Governors will hold a public meeting to vote on a set of proposals that will implement global banking rules, known as Basel III.

Rep. Barney Frank has introduced a bill that would prohibit financial executives from purchasing insurance to protect themselves from compensation clawback penalties.

The American Bankers Association joined trade groups in every state Wednesday to urge passage of a bill easing fee disclosure rules at automated tellers.

Banks received two years to bring automated teller machines into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. As soon as the deadline passed, plaintiffs' lawyers pounced on the stragglers.

Jeremy Stein, a professor of economics at Harvard University, became the seventh governor to join the Federal Reserve Board, the central bank said Wednesday.

Wilshire State Bank in Los Angeles has been released from an enforcement order that required it to boost its capital ratios and reduce its level of problem loans.