Law and regulation

Some small banks fear expiration of FDIC loan guarantees will cost them deposits. Others say the Transaction Account Guarantee program has served its purpose and should go away.

David Nelms, The chief executive of Discover Financial Services, is facing new regulatory challenges and has struggled to grow the network business. But his efforts to be 'almost as good as MasterCard and Visa' seem to be working.

In a recent BankThink post challenging the rationale behind the Volcker rule, Richard E. Farley suggests that not a single bank collapsed because of proprietary trading in the last crisis.

Is the right way to hold banks accountable for servicing errors to require them to disgorge funds to borrowers who themselves may have been equally complicit in the process of helping to create mortgage fraud?

Although the Federal Reserve Board ultimately signed off on Capital One Financial Corp.'s deal to buy ING Direct USA, the grueling 9-month long process to get there is a warning to other large would-be acquirers.

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Merchant litigation over credit card interchange seems increasingly likely to end in a settlement, leaving observers at a payments conference this week to speculate about its final impact.

The shutdown of BitCoin's TradeHill, which exchanged digital currency for dollars and euros, underscores the regulatory and legal obstacles facing would-be disruptors in the payments business. Facebook is proceeding cautiously.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has entered into an agreement with American National Bank in Oakland Park, Fla., after finding "unsafe or unsound banking practices relating to credit risk."

Six of the 10 House Ethics Committee members have recused themselves from a probe into whether Rep. Maxine Waters helped secure government assistance for a bank in which her husband owned shares.

The prospect for principal reductions as a mortgage modification alternative has never looked as promising as it has with a number of important housing announcements over the last few weeks. The Federal Reserve's housing white paper, for instance, highlighted the need for more attention on principal reduction modifications, and it was featured again in the president's housing plan.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's plan to begin supervising debt collectors and credit reporting firms could prove troublesome to banks.

A bailout-era program that offers unlimited deposit insurance on business transaction accounts is set to expire at the end of this year. Some argue that the Transaction Account Guarantee Program has run its course, but many community bankers fear that if it is eliminated large depositors will move their money to megabanks seen as too big to fail.

Nothing grabs the attention of the business community like the arrival of a new regulator on the beat. So naturally collection agencies and debt buyers want to know all they can about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Bank of America would consider selling its retail-branch network in Texas and its U.S. Trust unit if the giant bank is forced to raise capital in a market shock or severe economic downturn, according to a document provided to U.S. regulators.

Earlier this week, it looked like Congress might again turn to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in order to pay for an extension of payroll tax cuts, extended unemployment insurance benefits, and higher Medicare reimbursement rates.

Five months after giving verbal assurances to the Federal Reserve and consumer groups that it would accept Federal Housing Administration applications with minimum FICO scores of 580, Capital One is not originating such loans.

A new report that found systemic flaws in San Francisco's foreclosure process could be fodder for securities investors to make claims against banks and mortgage servicers, its author says.

The Treasury Department has agreed to take a haircut on its equity in Broadway Financial in Los Angeles to help the company bring in new capital.

Executives hail new effort at dialogue and hold out hope for 'tiered regulation,' but the extent of actual reforms remains to be seen.