Law and regulation

Two collection agencies that work for the Education Department paid more than $4 million combined in civil penalties in the past year after another federal agency accused them of using abusive language with consumers, making illegal threats and committing other violations of the law.

American Banker editors discuss draft proposals for limiting banks' speculative trading.

2011 Women in Banking Keynote Arianna Huffington: "I owe an enormous amount to bankers."

2011 Women in Banking Keynote Beth Mooney: "We didn't lead with our differences."

2011 Women in Banking Keynote Beth Mooney: "We didn't lead with our differences."

2011 Women in Banking Keynote Heidi Miller: "I was a beneficiary of affirmative action."

2011 Women in Banking Keynote Heidi Miller: "I was a beneficiary of affirmative action."

2011 Women in Banking: Young Women's Leadership Scholarship Winners

Two failures late Friday - one in Minnesota and one in Missouri = cost the Deposit Insurance Fund nearly $190 million.

Congress recently heard conflicting testimony from three professors and one think tank fellow on a simple, straightforward question: Should there be a guarantee for mortgage securities in the future?

I was at a summit with 300 other community bankers when we were startled by chants of "Make Banks Pay!" Occupy Wall Street and related groups see no solutions coming out of Washington they are attacking bankers as public enemy #1.

You wouldn't automatically expect a Tea Party darling to express sympathy for the Occupy Wall Street protestors, but that is what Ron Paul did Wednesday.

At a hearing Thursday, Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., grilled Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on when the administration will release a GSE reform plan that is more detailed than its April white paper, which provided a rough sketch of three different options.

David Nebhut has been named deputy comptroller for economic and policy analysis at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

As agencies face the daunting task of finalizing their much-criticized rule, there is growing speculation that regulators will need to re-propose their proposal.

Regulators' consent orders let mortgage servicers select the firms to review their actions. Allowing the banks to choose their own judge, jury, and jailer presents almost untenable conflicts of interest.

Early reviews of the draft plan implementing the proprietary trading ban and hedge fund investment limits have industry representatives concerned it is too long and complicated.

If the industry works seriously with the reasonable critics of its fee practices — the ones who stress disclosure — it can safely ignore the rabble-rousers.