Regulation

Four defendants in an allegedly phony debt-relief services operation have settled Federal Trade Commission charges.

In an improving economy, many of the policies and procedures that were imposed on banks in 2008 have become counterproductive, and are hurting rather than helping the industry.

The U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service are providing further guidance that would make it easier for overseas banks to comply with a tax withholding requirement for some of their U.S. clients.

Mortgage lender PHH has been scrambling to reassure investors of its funding and cash positions in the wake of an S&P downgrade and the departure of its former CEO, Jerome Selitto.

Moments before he was scheduled to make a statement on the mortgage servicing settlement Tuesday night, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman postponed the conference call indefinitely.

Bankers are up in arms over the fact that a Congressional oversight has raised doubts about whether documents submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will retain attorney-client privilege.

President Obama's nomination of a Republican to the board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is fueling optimism that there may yet be a way for the Senate to confirm several pending financial nominees.

The Federal Reserve Board has ordered bank holding companies in Iowa, Wisconsin and South Carolina to use whatever resources are available to them to nurse their ailing bank subsidiaries back to health.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stressed to concerned lawmakers that any crisis in Europe would have a significant impact on U.S. financial institutions, even though the industry and regulators have taken steps to minimize potential damage.

Nonbank mortgage lenders are required to establish anti-money laundering programs and file suspicious activity reports under a final rule issued Tuesday by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.