Law and regulation

Florida authorities have uncovered an international crime ring involving dummy corporations and fraudulent loans.

Mortgage bondholders are threatening legal action over the $25 billion national mortgage settlement, which will give the five largest servicers credits for principal writedowns that the bondholders may take.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency had sharp words Monday for state and local governments that have passed laws meant to help homeowners facing risk of foreclosure, blaming them for slowing down the foreclosure process.

To date, the public dialogue about the Transaction Account Guarantee program has been divided between the political and reputational risks of continuing this extraordinary federal insurance and the potential liquidity crisis that could ensue if the program ends prematurely and abruptly.

Ultimately he would like to end the Fed, but the Texas Republican is making an impact within the GOP on the more short-term goals of curbing inflation and increasing transparency at the central bank.

New guidelines say directors and officers could face investigation from the agency if they copy or remove bank records before a seizure.

Union Bank's deal to buy Pacific Capital is making the U.S. Treasury's decision to a quick write-down on its investment in the target on look like a shrewd choice.

As Chris Larsen steps aside as Prosper's CEO, the company — and the rest of the peer-to-peer lending industry Larsen helped create — has the opportunity to change its course and possibly even merge with one of the very banks it originally sought to displace.

Crybaby bankers, when not engaged in weeping over new rules, focus on attacking "shadow banking," whether in the form of payday lending or money funds.

SHANGHAI (Dow Jones) - Citigroup Inc. said Monday it has sold its entire 2.71% equity stake in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, which will result in an after-tax gain of approximately $349 million.

In her column, "It's Time for Money Funds to Fess Up About Fluctuating Values," Barbara Rehm seems too intent on promoting regulations "that could make money funds miserable," regardless of their impact on investors, the financial system, and the economy.

During an appearance to business journalists, Cordray defended his agency's powers.

Clifford Rosenthal has been hired to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Office of Financial Empowerment.

The Twitterverse welcomed the Federal Reserve Board as a member last week and the Fed amassed more than 15,300 followers in a matter of days.

The results of the Federal Reserve Board's stress tests separated the strong from the weak among the 19 largest banks. Following is a breakdown of selected results and how individual institutions fared.

The industry largely backed Mitt Romney in the GOP primaries. With Obama's chances of reelection improving, should bankers be worried?

An appellate court has ruled that a borrower has the right to sue a servicer for violating the Home Affordable Modification Program, but a judge noted that the decision would have been helped by input from the Treasury Department.

The terms of the national mortgage settlement overlap to some extent with existing federal consent orders against the largest servicers, which could complicate banks' compliance efforts with both — and the role of the external settlement monitor.

Community bankers are worried about stress tests, even though there is nothing in the Dodd-Frank Act requiring them to do it. While regulators are not requiring the tests for smaller banks, they are increasingly encouraging bankers conduct such tests.

In Barbara Rehm's column "It's Time for Money Funds to Fess Up About Fluctuating Values," she characterizes the $1 net asset value as "a fiction," which is defined at something feigned, invented or imagined.