Law and regulation

Phishers turn the tables and mobile payments still scare consumers in the big security stories of the week through March 15.

The appeals court ruling is likely to perpetuate the perverse situation in which banks view SEC legal settlements as a cost of doing business rather than a deterrent for fraud.

Orrstown Financial Services Inc. in Shippensburg, Pa., said it expects to reach formal agreements with regulators that could require it to strengthen its credit risk management practices.

For years, Litton Loan Servicing was open to making a deal with delinquent borrowers. Then Goldman took over.

For young businesses to succeed, they first need business management tools, networks and coaching. Only after they have these things are they ready to take out loans.

Two managers of a debt collection business are banned from the industry and agreed to surrender their assets as part of settlements reached with the Federal Trade Commission.

WASHINGTON — Banks successfully warded off a measure Thursday that would have raised the small business lending cap for credit unions, but they continue to battle a second amendment to a House-passed bill that they also oppose.

Citigroup Inc.'s failure to see that it would not pass the Federal Reserve Board's stress tests has left the firm in a challenging position — and may serve as a stark lesson to other banks.

With the overseers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac digging in their heels against the use of principal write-downs for troubled homeowners, Senate Democrats pressed their case for a course change on Thursday.

The $25 billion national mortgage settlement essentially allows the five largest servicers to police themselves - which has made many consumer advocates surprisingly happy.

The FDIC is holding an auction for jewelry it inherited from the failed Tennessee Commerce Bank. The bank picked up the baubles after a jewelry store defaulted.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency moved Thursday to restrict home builders from imposing a controversial fee on property transactions that critics call unfair to home buyers.

Senate Democrats plan to introduce to an amendment to a new jobs bill that would extend the charter of the Export-Import Bank for another four years and raise the bank's lending limit by 40%, to $140 billion.

Last year, for the first time in anyone's recollection, there were no new bank charters approved, with the exception of three specifically blessed to acquire failed banks.

A trade group representing bank boards says directors have become "overwhelmed" by rules and regulations and is urging banking agencies and Congress to quickly take steps to ease their burden.

The fight over the Durbin Amendment continues, as financial institutions take issue with a lawsuit that retailers filed late last year against the Fed.

The Treasury Department in 2010 took a massive haircut on its investment in Pacific Capital and now stands to make roughly 90 cents on the dollar from the bank's sale to UnionBanCal. It's a reminder that taking your lumps early on problem assets can be beneficial.

Congress should repeal Sarbanes-Oxley to increase the flow of equity capital to micro- and small-cap public companies. Lawmakers also must increase the allotment for the SBA 7(a) program and guarantee it exists for the next three years.

Banks have made considerable progress fortifying their financials recently. But the Fed's latest stress test results show laggards remain and left some questioning the value of the entire exercise.

Various organizations representing card issuers joined a broad coalition of card issuers March 15 in a brief opposing a lawsuit filed by merchants claiming the Federal Reserve did not go far enough in capping fees on debit transactions last year.