Law and regulation

What caused the big failures during the crisis? "Lousy management and lax oversight. Those are the problems we need to focus on," writes American Banker editor-at-large Barbara Rehm. "And whether anyone wants to admit it or not, those are exactly the problems the Dodd-Frank Act went after."

Bank of America said it will contribute a total of $738 million to settle a price-fixing case brought by retailers over credit-card swipe fees.

Four years after the height of the financial crisis, the tri-party repo market still poses a risk to the U.S. financial system, witnesses told Congress Thursday. Yet no federal agency has taken full responsibility for the reform process, Sen. Jack Reed noted.

Despite the setback, the issue may return when the Senate returns from recess in September.

A measure from Republicans Scott Garrett and David Vitter would end the government’s ability to designate non-banks as systemically important.

After initially dragging their feet, the largest mortgage servicers have modified nearly 70% of loans from delinquent borrowers that qualify, thanks largely to government incentives.

U.S. regulators said Thursday they will be giving homeowners who believe they may have been wrongfully foreclosed upon more time to get an independent review.

Space Coast Credit Union announced Thursday that NCUA and state regulators have approved the spin-off of its two Jacksonville branches to Alive Credit Union.

Leaving no coin, metal, or commodity unturned, retiring Rep. Ron Paul made a final push on one of his signature issues on Thursday, seeking stronger ground for the U.S. to implement a parallel currency in lieu of the U.S. dollar.

PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker agreed to settle allegations that they used prepaid cards to launder money.

First Data, which processes about half of all U.S. card spending, recently identified that debit spending again overtook that of credit cards. Now another trend is emerging: PIN-debit use is growing much faster than signature debit and credit.

After Sandy Weill's let's-break-them-up bombshell, the authors of a certain major piece of legislation can, by comparison, take a more moderate stance on breaking up big banks.

The HUD secretary said the president disagreed with Ed DeMarco's refusal to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to engage in principal reductions, but suggested there was little that could be done short of hoping the FHFA chief changes his mind.

Banks are trying hard to beef up programs tied to consumer protection, thanks to the creation of the CFPB and other consumer-related regulations. But there are few people in the job market with experience in banking and consumer protection, making this a lucrative opportunity for those who are skilled at both.

The main news programs on broadcast networks ABC and NBC have ignored the biggest scandal roiling the banking world this summer, according to the nonprofit website Media Matters for America. Other networks have covered it, but critics urge TV to toughen reporting on banking.

Resurrecting Glass-Steagall means resurrecting the large, highly leveraged investment banks engaged in high-risk trading for their own accounts.

KeyBank has become the latest regional bank to bring its credit cards back in house.

The CFPB has taken its first civil action, suing a Los Angeles law firm that it says has preyed on distressed borrowers by offering bogus mortgage loan modifications.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has taken its first civil action, suing and effectively stopping business at a Los Angeles law firm that charged homeowners for loan modifications that allegedly never happened.

OK, this isn’t your normal DFRW fare, but we can’t quite let this vision go.