Law and regulation

More banks and business owners would tap the U.S. Small Business Administration's loan guarantee programs if the SBA would streamline the application process, M&T Bank (MTB) Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Wilmers said Thursday.

Federal prosecutors Wednesday accused Washington D.C. Council chairman Kwame R. Brown with mortgage fraud, saying he lied on his home mortgage application as part of a scheme to buy a $50,000 power boat.

The nation's mega servicers are increasing their use of principal reductions in modifying loans as they fulfill obligations under the $25 billion robo-signing settlement with the state attorneys general and federal agencies, according to new figures released by the Treasury Department.

The Atlanta bank, which was forced to retreat from a $5 debit-card fee in the fall, is making it more difficult for some customers to qualify for free checking.

West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw's office has made agreements with five out-of-state debt collection companies that were unlawfully working in the state. The companies agreed to pay a total of $772,286 in the form of refunds and debt forgiveness.

Directors and officers of banks, already under scrutiny from the regulators and law enforcement agencies traditionally charged with examining their actions, should take heed of a new player on the scene: the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. SIGTARP has already been involved in a number of significant financial institution investigations and appears poised to increase the scope of its activity.

If ratified by the Fed, the new liquidity ratios could constrain lending, at the worst possible time. A proposed capital buffer is theoretically countercyclical, but needs more work.

BancorpSouth quietly cut a deal in Arkansas that could undercut Florida claims in the overdraft case and save it millions. A federal judge is not amused.

Newly installed Comptroller Tom Curry faced a barrage of criticism over how JPMorgan lost more than $2 billion from trades in London and why regulators were not more aware of the severity of the threat.

House Democrats on Wednesday took aim at a controversial bill that would establish a self-regulatory organization to oversee retail investment advisers, raising a litany of concerns about the impact on small investment practices and diminishing the roles of existing federal and state authorities.

Businesses went knocking on banks' doors to ask for more loans over the past few months, boosting optimism that demand would continue to rise in the coming year, according to a Federal Reserve Board report released Wednesday.

Ignoring state appraisal laws may subject bank employees or third-party service providers to fines or even criminal penalties. National banks relying on federal preemption for appraisal laws should take another look at that assumption in light of Dodd-Frank.

The System Risk Council, which will be advised by Paul Volcker, will provide outside commentary on the progress of overhauling the regulatory system.

Here's a systemic risk bankers and regulators prefer not to discuss: Banks so big they get away with chronically unethical and illegal behavior.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is giving the participants in its "small business" review panel five additional days to offer comments on the agency's mortgage banking compensation proposals.

A federal judge dismissed Bank of America's lawsuit against units of Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas, a win for the two foreign banks in their $1.75 billion dispute over losses suffered when a subsidiary of disgraced mortgage lender Taylor Bean & Whitaker collapsed.

The banking industry's image is about as awful as it's ever been. But what needs to be done by whom, and at what cost, to fix it? Editor at Large Barb Rehm has some ideas.

On Wednesday, Occupy the SEC will be marching in Manhattan from JPMorgan Chase's downtown office to the SEC, calling for the agency to investigate Jamie Dimon himself for possible violation of the disclosure requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Comptroller Thomas Curry will tell Congress on Wednesday that the agency is trying to determine whether JPMorgan Chase told examiners enough. It is looking into what the agency could have done differently.

BNC Bancorp has no immediate plans to exit the program, despite recently raising $73 million from a private placement. CEO Swope Montgomery believes BNC's acquisitions will more than offset the current 5% borrowing rate for the Tarp funds.