Regulation

Visa and MasterCard halted services in Crimea after a new round of U.S. sanctions, according to multiple reports.

2014 was a big year for payments. Disruption came from within the financial services industry and from outsiders like Apple and Walmart. Mainstream payment companies had to respond to these new competitors as well as adapt to fresh attention from regulators and fraudsters.

With Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reserves erasing crisis-era losses, the agency is staring down a critical decision on how to implement a congressionally required increase in the insurance fund.

It is unclear if the wave of state actions signals a burgeoning state scrutiny of consumer finance companies or if state enforcers will only employ this new approach on occasion.

Federal regulators formally issued a final risk retention rule for mortgage securitizations, a long-awaited and hotly debated measure that is nevertheless expected to have little market impact when it takes effect a year from now.

It isn't just payday lenders and money-services firms that are being ditched by banks lately. Community banks are getting cut off too.

Medical debt may prove to be one of the complex areas that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will tackle in its highly anticipated rulemaking on debt collection next year.

In a meeting with Fed chair Janet Yellen, one community banker emphasized the need for a tiered approach to regulation and enforcement.

A Defense Department proposal to strengthen financial protections for military personnel is still too weak, according to attorneys general from 20 states.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Housing Finance Agency said Monday it has approved the merger of the Federal Home Loan banks of Des Moines and Seattle, giving approval to the first voluntary combination in the history of the system.