Law and regulation

Fearing that banks might get off too easy in the multi-state mortgage settlement talks, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is preparing to file lawsuits against the nation's largest servicers for wrongfully foreclosing on customers.

WASHINGTON–President Obama sharply criticized the financial sector Oct. 5 in response to questions about the Occupy Wall Street movement, the small number of prosecutions related to the financial crisis, and his recent comments about Bank of America's plan to impose a fee on debit-card users.

First Tennessee Bank in Memphis is taking an unusual approach with its new debit card fees: instead of collecting a monthly fee, the bank will charge its customers a few cents every time they use their debit cards.

The president offers a sharp critique of the banking industry, while saying that he does not believe the government should dictate how much profit private companies make.

Though it established a two-tier rate structure to accommodate issuers exempt from new caps on debit card interchange established by the Federal Reserve Board, Visa Inc. made only minor changes to the rates acquirers use to determine how much they pay card issuers with less than $10 billion in assets.

Capital rules, too big to fail, the European crisis and other wild cards are holding back deals, Jonathan Pruzan says. But a burst of mergers among midsize banks is possible.

In appearances before the House and Senate, the Treasury secretary testifies about the housing market, community banks, financial stability, and America's exposure to the European debt crisis.

For the vast majority of Americans, the role of the bank is to be there when the customer wants it to be there. Like the water company. Like the electric company.

The Senate Banking Committee voted 12-10 to send the nomination of Richard Cordray to the full Senate.

Consumer delinquencies continued to climb in the second quarter with nine of 11 loan categories showing increases, according to a study released Wednesday by the American Bankers Association.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday that Wall Street's anger toward President Obama is "inexplicable," though possibly fueled by resentment after the administration engineered a massive bailout of the financial industry.

Downtown Manhattan has been invaded. What does it mean for bankers?

The Senate Banking Committee will vote Thursday morning on the nomination of Richard Corday to be the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Sen. Richard Durbin, who has loudly criticized banks for raising debit-card fees, accused Bank of America Corp. directly this week of attempting to drive customers toward credit cards.

According to a Sept. 30 internal regulatory memo, regulators plan to broadly define proprietary trading, provide limited exceptions to allow banks to invest in hedge and private-equity funds, and require institutions to install new internal controls.

Data released Wednesday by the U.S. Small Business Administration shows that banks are willing to finance small businesses — as long as the loans are backed by a government guarantee.

A number of struggling homeowners were helped by an Obama administration loan modification program in August, but the program has helped far fewer people than initially forecast.

Raj Date, the de facto head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, weighed in on the ongoing furor over Bank of America's decision to apply a monthly fee for debit card use, saying the focus should be on transparency.

For almost two weeks activists have taken over Zuccotti Park, in the middle of the financial district, in a so-called occupation of Wall Street. Yes, some are angry at bankers. But there is no unifying theme for the protest. Some people are homeless. Some are unemployed. Others are just mad at the general malaise in the economy. There is a message, though, for those in the industry: Many are sensitive to what they perceive as corporate greed.

Tony Blair, who led Great Britain for a decade, used an appearance in North Carolina Tuesday night to assert that current challenges are merely a temporary setback for the West.