Law and regulation

This is a particularly tough period for regulators and for bankers. We are still in a tenuous recovery from the 2008 financial shock and are living in the midst of a weak, indeed, anemic economy. Most banks have forgone profits for balance-sheet repair, as they should, with success: U.S. balance sheets are stronger today than before the financial crisis in 2008.

A federal judge has ruled the massive $8.5 billion settlement between Bank of America and several important investors who lost billions on mortgage-backed securities will be heard in federal court.

Bank of America Corp., once the nation's largest residential mortgage lender, has dropped to third place, defeating the original purpose of its ill-fated takeover of Countrywide Financial Corp.

Regulators are keeping a close eye on how smaller banks handle commercial lending and regulatory changes stemming from the Dodd-Frank Act, officials from various agencies told attendees at the Risk Management Association's annual conference.

Following growing protests from small merchants against credit card companies, South Korea’s major card networks announced Oct. 17 that they would cut the interchange fees they collect from such merchants, confirms an official at the Credit Finance Association of Korea, which represents card companies, banks and insurers.

The Federal Reserve Board's Beige Book showed fewer loans to consumers as Americans focused largely on paying off their debt.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Dick Durbin is calling on Wells Fargo to explain why it needs to impose new debit card fees when it posted a 21% increase in third quarter profits.

Washington's newest super-agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, sprang into life in July. That bureau was granted remarkable powers by Congress. Consumers and businesses alike will depend on the stability and effectiveness of the new bureau. However, Congress unwittingly may have infected the bureau with the equivalent of a latent computer virus that could damage the CFPB's ability to function, and shatter the expectations of its supporters.

Hubert Humphrey, the former Minnesota attorney general, will serve as director of the CFPB's Office of Older Americans.

Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Mitt Romney all played defense on the issue of bailouts during last night's Republican debate.

The policy focus should be how to ensure no single financial institution becomes a single point of systemic failure – not how to mitigate the fallout when a SIFI fails.

TCF Financial Corp. in Wayzata, Minn., has promoted its chief risk officer, Barry N. Winslow, to head of corporate development as part of a broad management realignment aimed at better competing in an increasingly challenging banking climate.

During testimony on Capitol Hill, the Treasury secretary faces criticism from members of both parties over a slow-moving, smaller-than-expected initiative to boost lending to small businesses.

State attorneys general said issues around the bureau's leadership structure should not stop White House nominee from getting director's job.

Obama singled out Wall Street three times in a speech designed to defend his jobs plan against a Republican alternative in front of a select group of attendees and media at a YMCA gymnasium.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said central banks must pay equal attention to financial stability as on their monetary policy actions.

Porter Bancorp in Louisville, Ky., has been told by the Federal Reserve to ensure that its PBI Bank complies with a consent order issued by the FDIC and the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions.is under orders from the Federal Reserve to serve as a source of strength for its PBI bank.

Mr. Swanick got one thing right in his piece "So Where Are Those Post-Durbin Price Reductions for Consumers?" (Oct. 10): "No one likes price increases, especially when they appear suddenly and without apparent justification." Hidden, unjustified price increases are what the merchant community and our customers have been facing for years with the way big banks and card networks collude to set both credit and debit card interchange swipe fee prices.

Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. have adopted two very different strategies to try to overcome an uncertain economy, increasing regulations and a prolonged slowdown in Wall Street activity — but as their third-quarter results showed on Monday, neither bank has found a foolproof solution.

The U.S. and the world should follow the lead of the U.K. Vickers report and ringfence traditional banking, so shareholder equity and depositors’ money can be used only to lend to viable borrowers.