Law and regulation

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris filed suit against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Tuesday, seeking to force the companies to answer a detailed list of questions after the firms' federal regulator sought to block an open-ended inquiry by the state.

The Obama administration is considering nominating Jeremiah Norton, an executive director for JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s investment bank, to sit on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s board of directors.

Most executives in the prepaid debit card market agree any future federal regulations that demand better disclosures on products are good for the industry. But if the government starts messing with fee structures, it could lead issuers to leave the market altogether.

The future of institutionalized, imprudent mortgage lending to people who could not otherwise afford the loans was foretold in 1999.

The average checking account costs banks about $350 annually, American Banker reported this month. But whether banks should use that estimate in determining individual customer profitability remains up for debate.

Most executives in the prepaid debit card market agree any future federal regulations that demand better disclosures on products are good for the industry.

The central bank on Tuesday released a 173-page proposal governing how it plans to supervise systemically important banks and nonbanks. The plan covers everything from capital requirements to stress tests.

The state Attorneys General need to get a deal done soon, or they — and by extension American homeowners and those who have lost their homes — lose.

A Stanford University professor has filed a letter with the Federal Communications Commission urging it to investigate Verizon Wireless’s blocking of Google Wallet on its new smartphone.

Senate GOP leaders moved to block the confirmations of Marty Gruenberg, Tom Hoenig and Thomas Curry because the Obama administration refused to promise it wouldn't use its recess appointment powers for the CFPB and other agencies.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has said the state attorneys general may be ready to announce a deal with the top five mortgage servicers by Christmas. But industry observers, sources and recent news reports suggest the two sides are still ironing out the final details, raising doubts about a deal announcement this week.

The central bank is expected to release a batch of rules implementing Sections 165 and 166 of the Dodd-Frank Act that dictate everything from risk-based capital requirements to how the Fed will supervise systemically important financial firms.

The FDIC's job in this instance is simply to recover as much taxpayer money as possible from a bank failure, not to right the scales of justice, a D&O insurance lawyer says.

The SEC is unlikely to see much financial gain, or praise, from suing former Fannie and Freddie bosses. Instead, its suits' biggest effect might be in rendering the defendants unemployable.

The Bailey Building and Loan Association was one of the worst run banks in America. It would have topped the FDIC's problem bank list, if such a list had existed in 1946. In fact it almost certainly would have failed every financial test of today's regulators. The institution was poorly capitalized, its assets were concentrated in a single asset class, and it was a subprime mortgage lender. Of course, it was also a figment of Frank Capra's imagination.

Credit unions were hit last week with a new group of lawsuits by one consumer claiming they violated the public-disclosure provisions of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act by failing to post nonmember fees being charged at their ATMs as required by the law.

WASHINGTON — Bank regulators announced Monday higher thresholds for reporting requirements under the Community Reinvestment Act, after adjusting for inflation.

In what is probably the last night for bank collapses in 2011, regulators closed banks in Florida and Arizona, bringing the year's failure tally to 92.

WASHINGTON — President Obama on Friday nominated Richard Berner to become the first director of the Treasury Department's new Office of Financial Research.

Timothy Burniston, the former senior associate director for the Fed's division of consumer and community affairs, has joined Wolters Kluwer Financial Services.