Regulation

An executive order signed by President Obama on Friday that mandated the adoption of chip and PIN technology in government cards and enabled its use in facilities like Post Offices is a "meaningless gesture" that smacks of politics over substance.

A U.S. housing regulator plans new steps to encourage banks to lend to buyers with less than-perfect credit scores, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Many lenders think home loans are off-limits for undocumented immigrants because they lack Social Security numbers, but higher-cost loans using borrowers' individual taxpayer identification numbers are available and being made by a handful of firms.

An executive order signed by President Obama on Friday that mandated the adoption of chip-and-PIN technology in government cards and enabled its use in facilities like post offices smacks of politics over substance, analysts said.

The Federal Reserve Board issued a final rule Friday that will give banks an additional three months to comply with stress test requirements.

Richard Hunt of the Consumer Bankers Association explains the industry's beef with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau complaint portal – particularly the agency's proposal to include "narratives" in the information published.

As the CFPB focuses on the screening processes that banks use to vet checking account applications, regulators should try to maintain a balance between safety and soundness concerns and consumer protection.

The White House is slated to unveil a major package of initiatives on Friday to increase data security for financial transactions, including an executive order to add chip-and-PIN technology to government-issued credit and debit cards.

Congress and banking agencies should seize the opportunity to eliminate unnecessary and outdated requirements.

Bitcoin adopters in Ohio have been some of the most vocal about how state laws need to evolve to encourage the use of digital currency, but the Ohio government seems to want that change to come from the courts rather than the legislature.