Regulation

The former chief executive of Butler Bank in Lowell, Mass., has been banned from the banking business and fined $225,000 in connection with the thrift's failure last year.

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators are seeking comment on a proposal that aims to lessen banks' reliance on credit ratings by proposing three methods for assessing risk on firms' trading books.

Has the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with over 500 employees and growing like cancer, actually protected any consumers yet? Well, next best thing. It garners headlines nearly daily in lobbying to gain full powers by getting Cordray confirmed. Dodd-Frank says the CFPB must have a confirmed director to fire from all barrels.

Banks are between a rock and a hard place these days in figuring out how to recoup the cost of doing business without sparking a public outcry.

Fearless forecasts for bank regulation and reform in the new year.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency on Thursday said it has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to implement a congressionally mandated increase in their loan guarantee fees on April 1. The initial rise will be 10 basis points, but additional increases may be coming, said the FHFA's acting director, Edward DeMarco.

If you read through enough material loss reviews prepared by the FDIC's Inspector General — essentially autopsies on failed banks — certain common themes emerge. One of the recurring themes is that many closed banks overconcentrated in commercial real estate and development loans. The rapid decline in property values, reflected by appraisals, then rendered the bank undercapitalized.

Security Federal Corp. in Aiken, S.C.. has reorganized as a bank holding company and its subsidiary, Security Federal Bank, has converted from a federally chartered thrift to a state-regulated commercial bank.

Washington Mutual Inc. will collect $50 million from the government under a settlement approved Thursday ending nearly two decades of litigation arising out of the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. in Nashville, Tenn., has moved a step closer toward exiting the Troubled Asset Relief Program.