Regulation

First Merchants Corp. in Muncie, Ind., announced Friday that is planning to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program using a combination of proceeds from a recent stock offering and a low-interest loan from the Treasury Department's Small Business Lending Fund.

The president told Congress that he would act on his own to allow more Americans to refinance their mortgages. His jobs legislation will also include an infrastructure bank, an idea that has failed to gain enough support in the past.

The FHFA's suits against 17 large financial institutions are the latest example of a deep-seated conflict within the government over how to address the hangover from the housing bubble.

Chicago's City Council published an ordinance Thursday that would require banks, mortgage servicers and institutional investors to provide maintenance and upkeep of vacant properties before the homes have gone through foreclosure.

WASHINGTON — Elizabeth Warren has headed back to Massachusetts, but she remains engaged in the partisan fight in Washington over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

WASHINGTON — The Senate Banking Committee voted to advance the nominations for three key financial services positions on Thursday.

Regional-sized bank holding companies, which must submit resolution plans, say their rules should not mirror those of the biggest firms.

Government-sponsored enterprise Freddie Mac told investors this month that it is not considering "significant discount pricing" when selling its backlog of foreclosed homes, according to a letter obtained by American Banker. A spokesman said the agency doesn't want to "tank" the housing market.

The Federal Reserve on Thursday announced a written agreement with Stonebridge Financial Corp. in West Chester, Pa.

American banks aren't the only ones protesting a capital surcharge on systemically important institutions.