Law and regulation

Regulators implementing Dodd-Frank met with big banks nearly 1,300 times in the past two years, but held only 242 meetings with reform-oriented organizations, according to a report from the Sunlight Foundation.

Sens. Orrin Hatch and Jerry Moran are accusing the Treasury Department of inappropriately using Twitter and Facebook to push the Obama administration's priorities on Capitol Hill.

The Treasury secretary said Thursday that an extension of the crisis-era program, which remains popular with community banks, appears to be unnecessary.

Capital One will pay $12 million to military customers it overcharged for loans, as part of a settlement with the Justice Dept. and the OCC.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has expanded the global reach of its payment cards while also preparing to provide new technology to clients in the Single Euro Payments Area who will soon deal with far more cross-border payments.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. urged bank CEOs to watch out for middlemen seeking upfront fees to connect them with capital because, it says, many are frauds. The alert should have come sooner, some industry officials say.

As the HSBC hearings demonstrate, there's a growing expectation that individuals, not just institutions, will be held accountable. Recent enforcement actions also show a more risk-based, rather than rules-based, approach.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Thursday a stymied plan by U.S. regulators to reform money market mutual funds must be allowed to move forward.

Visa Inc.'s debit card payment volume declined again during the quarter ended June 30 as a result of a new debit network routing rule, but the worst effects of that trend are over, according to Visa CEO Joe Saunders.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) was against Dodd-Frank when he was in the conference committee for the bill and he continues to be critical of the legislation

Bank industry officials acknowledge that the measure is unlikely to become law, but they hope it sends a message to the Obama administration.

Navy Federal's strategy gives everyone else in the industry yet another way to get around the cap. Puzzlingly, some credit unions relentlessly press for legislation.

Citigroup vice chairman Michael Helfer on Thursday called efforts by regulators to require plans by financial institutions on how they would be unwound as "valuable," despite complaints that have been lodged against the effort.

Phil Gramm, the former U.S. senator who helped write the 1999 law that enabled the creation of financial giants such as Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp., said his legislation didn't make the system any riskier.

For many, it is more beneficial to take advantage of mechanisms that are integral to the fabric of the company and of the financial ecosystem, as a way to achieve compliance and maximize investments in current foundations.

The National Credit Union Administration announced Thursday it is creating an office to examine the nation's largest credit unions — the four with assets of over $10 billion, as well as the corporate credit unions — as part of a reorganization of its examinations process.

BlackRock, Fidelity Investments and Vanguard, firms that collectively manage more than $7 trillion, are gauging how their clients have been hurt by Libor manipulation and whether to take legal action as at least a dozen banks are being investigated for rate-rigging.

Richard Cordray, director of the CFPB, faced Republicans in Congress on Tuesday night as part of a House subcommittee on financial services oversight hearing.

The Federal Reserve Board entered into a written agreement with Macon Bancorp that requires the Franklin, N.C., company to serve as a source of strength to its bank.

In a speech Wednesday, Sen. Richard Shelby said that if Republicans win control of the Senate, he will work to rein in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other financial regulators.