Law and regulation

The amount the Michigan company ends up paying will depend on whether its financial footing improves.

The perfect metaphor for the housing crisis sits, ignominiously, off the coast of Italy. That lumbering hulk of a ship – the once Grand Concordia — is stuck, half sunk, going nowhere, and the prospects for the situation improving are problematic at best. Refloat? Scrap? Maritime experts are weighing the pros and cons, but I think there's general agreement about siphoning off the fuel before a possible leak turns pristine waters into a very toxic mess.

Two banks failed on Friday, with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. only finding a buyer for one of the fallen institutions.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is under pressure to let borrowers have the right to sue servicers even if they receive compensation under the foreclosure review process.

Flagstar Bancorp Friday agreed to pay up to $132.8 million to settle civil-fraud charges lodged by the Department of Justice that accused the bank of improperly approving loans for government insurance.

American Express Co., the largest credit-card issuer by spending, is facing an enforcement action by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and possibly the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over late fees it charged some charge-card customers, the company said Friday in a regulatory filing.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will report the industry's full 2011 earnings Tuesday in the agency's regular quarterly update.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. issued prompt corrective actions against five banks in January, telling them to either raise capital or be acquired by another institution.

As the Transaction Account Guarantee program is such an important issue to community banks, I read with interest Ms. Barbara Rehm's column titled "Rehm on TAG: Don't Extend it, End it." The piece omitted discussion of the reasons the TAG was created by the FDIC in the first place and why those reasons are still valid today.

The leadership of the American Bankers Association pushed attendees at this year's Conference for Community Bankers to stand united in public, while urging them to push lawmakers to sign onto a bill to address examination appeals.

Commerce National Bank & Trust in Winter Park, Fla., has entered into a consent order with the Officer of the Comptroller of the Currency that requires it to clean up its loan portfolio and bolster its capital levels.

Bank of America Corp. has stopped selling some residential mortgages to Fannie Mae, saying that it let its contract expire in part due to ongoing disputes over mortgage repurchase claims.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received about 2,300 complaints from borrowers about mortgage servicers in December, and that pace has been steady ever since, a senior advisor at the agency said Wednesday.

A push by the nascent consumer bureau to make a small fix to the Dodd-Frank Act is drawing favorable reviews from the banking industry.

Banks strategizing about the best ways to unload real-estate owned properties face tough choices on whether to pay for costly repairs, auction off homes or attempt to sell them to investors.

A California judge gave former IndyMac Bancorp. Chief Executive Michael Perry time to appeal a ruling that puts him in the crosshairs of a $600 million lawsuit accusing him of negligence for signing off on risky mortgages at the time of the housing collapse.

The agency's research on the sector includes some larger institutions that still fit the community bank mold, while discounting smaller banks with a narrow focus.

Consumer advocates and others urge banks to improve overdraft disclosures, press CFPB's Cordray to regulate Wal-Mart.

WASHINGTON–The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's announcement Feb. 22 that it was targeting overdraft-protection practices was a stark reminder for bankers that even if they have already made significant changes, it is likely not enough.

NEW YORK–Bankers, consumer advocates and other industry members gathered on Feb. 22 to hear officials from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau outline their concerns about overdraft practices.