Law and regulation

Consumers will be able to discharge student loans in bankruptcy if Sen. Richard Durbin gets his way. Banks are vehemently opposing the move.

In his third lecture, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Bernanke said regulators cannot tolerate continuance of "too big to fail" institutions and government bailouts when firms take excessive risks.

A clubby corner of the mortgage market has sprung back to life thanks to the historic settlement between banks and governments over foreclosure practices.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas has named longtime staffer E. Ann Worthy as its new head of banking supervision.

Deputy CFPB Director Raj Date told an industry group Tuesday that the bureau was carefully weighing the effect that a new ability-to-repay standard will have on the mortgage market.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated a written agreement with the former Cadence Financial about a year after the Starkville, Miss., company was acquired.

It's time for our nation's leaders to get serious about job creation. Our economy is beginning to inch its way forward toward recovery, but the only way forward to real prosperity for all is through small businesses.

Fed officials argued Tuesday that their swap lines are easing pressures on European banks, and that's good for U.S. banks and consumers. But House Republicans raised concerns.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday that certain borrowers who did not receive required mortgage disclosures should have a right to cancel their loans, as long as they notify their lender within three years.

If TAG is allowed to expire at yearend, it could spur community banks looking for extra liquidity to turn back to FHLB advances, which are at their lowest point in a decade.

The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association has raised the possibility of creating a hybrid reverse mortgage loan with members of the White House staff, Peter Bell, its president and CEO told attendees at the group's eastern regional meeting in New York.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has ordered AmericaHomeKey, Inc., to immediately stop making FHA-insured mortgages and fined the Dallas-based lender $268,000.

The House voted Monday to pass a bipartisan bill that would expand protections for privileged information that financial institutions share with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The banking industry's longtime nemesis, Sen. Richard Durbin, is now pushing to allow borrowers to discharge private student loans in bankruptcy.

Regulators have lifted an informal agreement with the banking unit of MainSource Financial Group (MSFG) in Greensburg, Ind.

Wells Fargo made repeated promises in the past six months to turn over documents and emails to the Securities and Exchange Commission but repeatedly failed to do so, according to a complaint filed in federal court on Friday.

WASHINGTON — Banking regulators said Monday they are looking for feedback on proposed changes to guidance issued in 2001 on leveraged finance.

The 2009 Card Act required lenders to "consider" customers' "ability to pay" before granting credit on cards.

Unobtrusive until now, a set of unrelated security requirements is about to become pretty unpopular, and costly.

Wells Fargo is trying a new twist on long-controversial down-payment assistance programs, which give money to prospective borrowers who otherwise could not afford to buy homes.