Law and regulation

John Allison may have retired as BB&T's CEO in 2008 but he still has strong opinions about the economy and banking industry. In a wide-ranging interview, he projects five years of stagnant growth, mixed results for M&A and 5-10% job cuts in the banking industry.

Bank of America Corp. said Monday that it would eliminate about 30,000 jobs over the next few years as part of its latest cost-reduction plan.

When Women in Housing and Finance organized a send-off for John Bowman last week, only one person was missing: Bowman.

While the media and public at large have been hanging on every word from Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke lately, the remarks that drew the most attention last week didn't involve the economy or QE3.

The American Bankers Association announced its slate of candidates last week for officer positions for 2011-12, which will be considered at the group's annual convention in San Antonio next month.

The administration is introducing the American Jobs Act to Congress in attempt to alleviate the prolonged high levels of unemployment. The act includes payroll tax cuts, tax credits, extended jobless benefits, fixes for school infrastructure and road repairs.

While well intended, Dodd-Frank only tinkers with our supervisory and regulatory structure rather than making the hard but needed changes.

Regulators should not allow any more bank mergers if the resulting entity would exceed $100 billion in assets. The return is just not worth the risk.

New York bankers have indelible memories where they were and what they were doing during the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Whether working in a high rise down the street from the World Trade Center or attending a convention in the Rockies, each remembers how events of that day have shaped his life and world. Following are some of their reflections.

Efforts to track the money flow of criminals – in place before Sept. 11 — were almost totally revamped in the years following the attacks.

The Reserve Bank of India on September 7 proposed several recommendations it says could form the basis for certain new customer-service practices it might require Indian banks to adopt that would affect credit cardholders.

From the perspective of New York City's community bankers, 9/11 bred a new era of caution and governmental oversight that will not go away anytime soon.

First Merchants Corp. in Muncie, Ind., announced Friday that is planning to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program using a combination of proceeds from a recent stock offering and a low-interest loan from the Treasury Department's Small Business Lending Fund.

The president told Congress that he would act on his own to allow more Americans to refinance their mortgages. His jobs legislation will also include an infrastructure bank, an idea that has failed to gain enough support in the past.

The FHFA's suits against 17 large financial institutions are the latest example of a deep-seated conflict within the government over how to address the hangover from the housing bubble.

Chicago's City Council published an ordinance Thursday that would require banks, mortgage servicers and institutional investors to provide maintenance and upkeep of vacant properties before the homes have gone through foreclosure.

WASHINGTON — Elizabeth Warren has headed back to Massachusetts, but she remains engaged in the partisan fight in Washington over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

WASHINGTON — The Senate Banking Committee voted to advance the nominations for three key financial services positions on Thursday.

Regional-sized bank holding companies, which must submit resolution plans, say their rules should not mirror those of the biggest firms.

Government-sponsored enterprise Freddie Mac told investors this month that it is not considering "significant discount pricing" when selling its backlog of foreclosed homes, according to a letter obtained by American Banker. A spokesman said the agency doesn't want to "tank" the housing market.