Regulation

The Federal Reserve Board is scheduled to release results this week of the toughest stress tests to date. They will determine what firms can pay a dividend and shape public perceptions of banks' health.

Many financial product innovations sound brilliant, but are prone to blow up after 5 or 15 years of increasing emulation and bloat, as discipline declines. Then, after the horses are long gone, Washington thinks about painting the barn. Some of that happened with inventive mortgages and their securitization, with collateral default swaps, with overinvestment in commercial real estate, and — some would allege — with money market funds.

WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has approved Capital One Financial Corp.'s acquisition of HSBC Bank USA's credit card portfolio.

Regulator aims to maintain competitive pay packages for certain managers, but new CEOs at Fannie and Freddie to make $500,000 each.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has ended a formal agreement with City National Bank of Florida.

ACA International announced Friday its support for The Fair Debt Collection Practices Clarification Act, a bill introduced last month that would exempt collectors from liability when leaving voice messages.

More than 200,000 financially strapped households will have a chance to sharply reduce their mortgage balances under a side deal negotiated by Bank of America that could allow the bank to avoid as much as $850 million in penalties.

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Thursday to adopt a measure aimed at cracking down on offshore tax havens.

The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee faces the toughest race of his 19-year congressional career.

WASHINGTON — The Capital Purchase Program was more than $6 billion in the black as of the end of January, but there are continued concerns over some institutions still not repaying CPP funds, according to a report issued Thursday by the Government Accountability Office.