Regulation

Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen said Thursday that she is willing to reject any of the largest banks' resolution plans that regulators received earlier this month if they are not adequate, but in at least one respect they already appear to be improved.

The leak of documents from the surveillance software and "ethical hacking" firm Hacking Team revealed that some foreign banks were clients. Had any U.S. banks been on the list, the last two weeks would have been … interesting.

WASHINGTON — Steven Antonakes, the No. 2 official at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is resigning from the agency, according to an internal agency memo obtained by American Banker.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling is planning to push legislation that would rein in the Federal Reserve Board.

The Treasury Department launched an inquiry into the marketplace lending industry on Thursday, seeking information on its business models, customers and whether such firms should be forced to keep some "skin in the game."

Final guidelines for dealing with failing institutions from the international Basel Committee include direct capital injections — something the Dodd-Frank Act tried to end in the U.S. — as a last-ditch option.

A recent CFPB study lays the groundwork to roll back financial firms' use of arbitration clauses. But rather than protecting consumers, such a measure could wind up forcing people into costly and time-consuming lawsuits.

Wall Street's favored bank-resolution strategy would virtually guarantee future bailouts while imposing the costs on taxpayers and ordinary investors. At the very least, the damage can be mitigated with three key reforms.

Although overall lending was a bright spot in the Federal Reserve Board's report on economic activity released Wednesday, some bankers surveyed said excessive regulation is crimping commercial lending.

Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen sounded at least open to the idea that new regulations have contributed to potential liquidity problems, but said more study is needed.