Law and regulation

The inspector general of the FDIC is looking into media leaks of early drafts of the Volcker Rule, including American Banker's publication of the proposal a week before its public release.

The Senate Banking Committee hearing on implementation of Dodd-Frank touched on a lot of core issues, such as capital requirements, the Volcker Rule and a risk retention proposal, but the pending Senate vote over the nomination of Richard Cordray to the CFPB overshadowed most of those issues.

The Federal Reserve has hit Waccamaw Bank with a prompt corrective action ordering the Whiteville, N.C., bank to increase equity or sell itself.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is urging legislators to investigate alleged improper foreclosure practices by Ally Financial, which said last week it would scale back most of its mortgage lending in the state.

Ryan Gilbert's recent BankThink article "Give Nonbanks a Nationwide Reach" is part of a massive lobbying campaign by major payday lenders and others to sway Congress to pass H.R. 1909.

In an unusual step, the Federal Reserve Board took direct aim at recent news reports that portray the U.S. central bank as coming to the aid of the largest firms at the expense of the American public.

A credit union association has "egg on its face" after scaling back its estimate of membership gains, one banking representative says. Another cautions against too much celebration.

Support for a clearer ban is widespread since a 60 Minutes report suggested lawmakers — including House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus — traded on nonpublic information, but members are still debating the scope of the legislation.

Doing something — anything — quickly but poorly is no substitute for taking the time to do what needs to be done well.

A bipartisanship bill seeks to give banks a new way to appeal exam results and has regulators steaming.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week hired Manoj K. Singh as principal examiner for risk, in charge of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

While the largest 8 U.S. banks already know they will face a capital surcharge, a top Federal Reserve official suggested that more domestic bank holding companies may face such a charge to fulfill capital requirements under Dodd-Frank.

Ahead of the Department of Labor's anticipated proposal to redefine fiduciary responsibility, expected sometime in 2012, 55 House Republicans sent a letter asking for more careful consideration of the effects on consumer choice before any new rule is proposed.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's staff will need "a few additional months" to complete work on its recommendation to the commission about whether U.S. companies should adopt the international rules, SEC chief accountant James Kroeker said.

Many community banks that are struggling to grow and cannot afford to repay their bailout aid will be forced to sell, and they don't have a lot of time to find a buyer.

The battle between Democrats and Republicans over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will come to a head this week when Senate Democrats hold a vote — expected to fail — on the confirmation of the bureau's first director. But observers said the vote, which is likely to be the first of many, plays into a White House strategy of painting Republicans as anti-consumer protection, and friends of Wall Street.

Following MF Global failure, agency limits firms' ability to invest customer money in sovereign debt and other instruments.

Sterling Bank in Washington and the FDIC are both pursuing claims against directors and officers of Bank of Clark County, which failed in 2009. Sterling was the first to file, but lawyers believe the FDIC will likely get its tab paid first, if legal fees don't end up taking it all.

While the living will rule requires firms to provide voluminous data on many aspects of their banking companies, regulators are likely to be primarily focused on a narrative of how they can be taken apart.

As a powerful liberal force in banking legislation announces his retirement, bankers face the prospect that he will be replaced by someone even less to their liking.