Regulation

The operators of a mortgage foreclosure rescue company are banned from selling mortgage relief services under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and the states of California and Missouri, which sued them in 2009 as part of a federal-state crackdown on mortgage loan modification and foreclosure relief scams.

One of the new credit card law's lesser-known provisions is funneling distressed borrowers to credit counselors, an industry once tarred as predatory. In an ironic twist, that outcome pleases consumer advocates more than it does some bankers.

Australia’s central bank is likely to continue regulating payment card interchange fees indefinitely, at least one analyst predicts.

The four organizations representing the nation’s accounts receivables management industry are calling on Congress to keep the Federal Trade Commission as the exclusive regulator of debt purchasers and collectors. The unprecedented action by the trade groups to come together is a response to proposed legislation that would strip the FTC of its powers and place the industry under a new authority.

Banking executive Charles J. Antonucci Sr., the former president and CEO at Park Avenue Bank of New York, was arrested Monday on charges including allegations that he defrauded regulators.

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood's office has charged a Texas couple with wire fraud for bilking $13,000 from a Mississippi family while claiming to be a debt settlement company.

Bank regulators issued 1,143 formal enforcement actions against banks and their holding companies last year, a new record and more than double the 2008 tally.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers' office has banned three collection attorneys from collecting debts in the state after accusing them of using unfair tactics.

Credit card issuers this week began scrambling to formulate models for what they consider to be “reasonable and proportional” customer penalty fees for late payments and overlimit charges. They must submit their penalty fee models within a month to the Federal Reserve Board, which intends to use the information when it sets final rules implementing the last portion of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act.

New restrictions on card issuers raising interest on existing balances under the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act is far more important to consumers than the law’s other provisions that also went into effect last week, the results of a recent poll suggest.