Law and regulation

Consolidation is increasing risk to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. while reducing diversification in the industry.

Endorsements from lawmakers such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren of the U.S. Postal Service providing banking services overlook how a similar plan faltered after the Panic of 1907.

Lawmakers sharply criticized the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Wednesday over a watchdog report that said the agency used abusive tactics to stop banks from offering refund anticipation loans.

W.J. Bradley Mortgage Capital shut its doors after it was stuck with nonagency loans with TILA/Respa integrated disclosure issues that it couldn't sell.

In what has become almost a grim ritual, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray faced a barrage of hostile questioning from Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee, who hammered him over everything from payday lending to regulatory relief for small banks.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Wednesday that the raft of rules and regulations brought on by Dodd-Frank and other international agreements since the financial crisis have made the banking sector and the public safer, but she said work to make those changes apparent to the public is continuing.

The chairmen of the House and Senate banking committees appear to agree that banks that hold higher capital should get a significant break on other regulatory requirements. But the odds of enacting a bill this year remain long.

Members of a House Energy subcommittee had many basic questions for technologists, entrepreneurs and legal experts testifying at a hearing on digital currency Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve recently announced that it had released five community banks from enforcement actions.

MasterCard Inc., the second-largest U.S. payments network, received a finding of violation from the Treasury for failing to report accounts held by two Iranian banks that were placed on a list in 2007 that prohibits U.S. entities from dealing with them.