Law and regulation

Commodities Futures Trading Commission commissioner Scott O' Malia says the CFTC has spent far too much of its time and resources on swaps rulemaking while "averting its gaze from the futures markets and their developments."

To the surprise of no one closely watching a new bill seeking to give banks some cover from examiners, federal regulators confirmed that no, they would not be OK with Congress creating an alternative appeals route for banks that want to dispute their exam ratings.

The current regulatory approach to compliance has led bankers to stop offering certain consumer loan products or to increase what they charge. We all lose if the cost of compliance forces regulated lenders to send customers to the back-alley loan shark.

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act is set to expire at the end of the year. While extending relief to stressed homeowners seems a no-brainer with millions of mortgages still underwater, some worry the measure could be allowed to die.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Thursday will announce the claims process for thrift shareholders who last year won a breach-of-contract case stemming from the savings-and-loan crisis.

When the 14 biggest mortgage servicers signed consent orders last April over foreclosure misdeeds, they hoped the deal would indemnify them against further claims. Regulators now appear unlikely to grant them blanket immunity.

Regulators say risk-based capital is the ratio they most want to see strengthened, community bankers say. That's a problem because minimum requirements could rise and examiners are said to exercise broad discretion in enforcement.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress that U.S. regulators will not deliver a final rule by July 21, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is seeking comment on a proposal that would require banks and other financial institutions to identify beneficial ownership of their accountholders.

The government's stick-a-finger-in-the-dike approach to the housing crisis isn't working. We need more drastic solutions if we want to turn the market around.

Fannie Mae, in a new SEC filing, says that in late January it cut off Bank of America from selling most types of loans to the GSE because of "delays" by the lender in making good on outstanding buyback requests.

Fannie Mae will request another $4.6 billion in U.S. government aid after posting a $2.41 billion loss in the fourth quarter, the mortgage finance company said Wednesday.

Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, has announced she won't seek re-election for a fourth term, citing "an atmosphere of polarization" in the Senate as the reason for her decision.

Edward DeMarco, the regulator in charge of supervising Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, was once again in the hot seat as lawmakers pressed him on his reluctance to forgive underwater borrower's debt.

During a pair of appearances Tuesday on Capitol Hill, top housing officials from the Obama administration sought to reassure members of Congress about the financial condition of the Federal Housing Administration.

North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue said Tuesday that she has nominated Ray Grace to take over as the state's banking commissioner.

Wells Fargo & Co. unveiled specific new terms in the national mortgage servicing settlement on Tuesday, providing the most detailed summary to date of what concessions banks did and did not win from federal and state officials.

It's about time banks stop whining about increased regulation and do something to get ahead of it.

Sen. Mark Udall, a Colorado Democrat, has placed a hold on a community bank bill that would increase the 500-shareholder threshold that requires a small bank to register with the SEC. He is conditioning his support on the advancement of a separate bill that would raise the cap on credit union member business lending.

Wells Fargo & Co. said Tuesday it received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to disclosures in its mortgage-backed securities offering documents.