Regulation

In a move that could speed up investors’ market moves, Airtel Ghana Ltd. has announced it is offering a new mobile funds-transfer service in collaboration with Databank Financial Services Ltd., a local stock-trading portal.

The president of a small Atlanta-based bank testified to Congress on Wednesday that the derivatives provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act could hinder the bank's ability to manage risk and serve its clients.

Taking a constructive approach as he wades into the thorny Basel debate, Citi CEO Vikram Pandit advocates benchmarking as way to compare firms' risk appetites.

The Obama Administration expects to roll out a plan to lower barriers to refinancing in "the next couple of weeks," HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan told mortgage bankers at their annual convention in Chicago.

The Government National Mortgage Association is making it easier for MBS issuers to pledge their servicing rights to obtain financing from warehouse lenders.

A common theme running through several news items should give bankers pause on their current tactics for arriving at a new regulatory world.

Participants in a large international credit card-skimming ring allegedly stole credit card data from thousands of U.S. and European consumers over a 16-month period, resulting in at least $13 million in losses, the Queens, N.Y. district attorney’s office announced.

Three former United Commercial Bank executives misled investors by concealing at least $65 million in loan losses before the San Francisco-based lender collapsed in 2009, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said.

Under a proposal issued by the Financial Stability Oversight Council, nonbanks with more than $50 billion in consolidated assets could be subject to designation as systemically important if they meet one of five other thresholds.

Banks are already in the thrall of a new business model even worse than the utility one: the industry is frozen solid in fear both of relentless credit risk and remorseless regulatory requirements.