Law and regulation

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has promoted Shonda Clay to executive vice president and product manager, a role in which she will also support the Fed's faster payments initiative.

The changes made 10 years ago reduced abusive bankruptcies and made our nation's economy more resilient. If Congress had gone further by regulating attorney fees and increasing penalties for fraud, the economy would be that much stronger.

The reform has returned bankruptcy to its intended function as a last resort for consumers, rather than a way for the wealthy to game the system at everyone else's expense.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau backed off some of its initial plans in its final rule requiring lenders to collect more data from mortgage borrowers, but industry representatives warned the agency had not gone far enough.

New York's state banking regulator may have set down rigorous guidelines for the Symphony online messaging service. But will the rules actually work, and will other agencies will adopt similar guidance?

The bureau's proposed standards would drive lenders out of short-term, small-dollar lending, just as the OCC's 2013 rules did. This time, however, there will be few, if any, regulated institutions left to fill the void.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule Thursday that requires lenders to collect more information from borrowers as part of mortgage disclosures.

Executives in the mortgage industry must "take a page from the real estate community" and be more active in Washington and their state capitals, said outgoing Mortgage Bankers Association Chairman Bill Cosgrove.

Synchrony Financial has received regulatory approval for moves that will let the credit card lender cut ties with its longtime parent, General Electric.

WASHINGTON — Bank lending is growing mildly, buoyed by strong consumer spending and an improving real estate market, while lending related to other areas of the economy have stagnated or contracted, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Federal Reserve Board.