Regulation

The Justice Department today will announce a settlement with Bank of America Corp. involving allegations of discriminatory lending practices by its Countrywide Financial Corp. unit, people familiar with the matter say.

Daniel Mudd, the former Fannie Mae CEO who is the subject of a new, massive SEC fraud suit, announced Wednesday morning that he is taking a leave of absence from his current employer, Fortress Investment Group, New York.

Bank of America is close to settling a Justice Department probe into whether its Countrywide unit violated fair-lending practices, said two people with knowledge of the discussions.

Nothing lasts forever as evidenced by the short term marriage of Hollywood stars. Differences in attitudes, status and in some cases just irreconcilable differences often cause breakups following many years of being together. One of fraying relationship is the 100 year plus association between the 6,000 plus smaller community banks and the nation's largest banks. This long standing relationship between big and small is on the rocks as the two groups have drawn apart, rarely working together or supporting one another anymore.

First Premier Bank has for decades offered credit cards with higher rates and fees than almost any other bank. For instance, if you borrowed $250 on one of their cards and held that balance for a year, you'd pay roughly 75% of that amount, $187.50, in finance charges and fees—assuming no late payment or other charges.

The central bank unveiled a 173-page proposal on Tuesday detailing how it will regulate systemically important banks and nonbanks. While the plan offered a lot of specifics, some burning questions, including how much certain firms will pay as a capital surcharge, were left unanswered.

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris filed suit against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Tuesday, seeking to force the companies to answer a detailed list of questions after the firms' federal regulator sought to block an open-ended inquiry by the state.

The Obama administration is considering nominating Jeremiah Norton, an executive director for JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s investment bank, to sit on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s board of directors.

Most executives in the prepaid debit card market agree any future federal regulations that demand better disclosures on products are good for the industry. But if the government starts messing with fee structures, it could lead issuers to leave the market altogether.

The future of institutionalized, imprudent mortgage lending to people who could not otherwise afford the loans was foretold in 1999.