Law and regulation

The Federal Reserve on Thursday announced a written agreement with Stonebridge Financial Corp. in West Chester, Pa.

American banks aren't the only ones protesting a capital surcharge on systemically important institutions.

Maryland's Court of Appeals on Wednesday approved changes to the state's Rules of Procedure that will force companies that buy past-due consumer debts - and try to collect by suing - to present sufficient evidence to support their claims, according to Jonathan F. Harris, an attorney with the Public Justice Center, a Baltimore-based legal advocacy group.

Foreclosures continue to decimate communities around the nation, with black neighborhoods being the hardest hit. Some pundits and politicians point to federal policies that encouraged homeownership in low- and moderate-income communities, coupled with reckless behavior on the part of greedy homeowners, as the crux of the problem. One example is the statement by Fox News reporter Neil Cavuto that "loaning to minorities and risky borrowers is a disaster." To the contrary, our recent research demonstrates that it is outside investors living in other, predominantly white neighborhoods, not local homeowners, who account for the adverse impact on our nation's black communities.

Capitol Federal Financial Inc. in Topeka, Kan., has decided to wait until its one-year anniversary as a 100% stock-owned company before before pursuing a stock buyback program.

Bank of America Corp.'s dismissal Tuesday night of top wealth management executive Sallie Krawcheck may point to a deeper commitment to the Merrill Lynch business.

The Treasury Department said this week it will distribute $4.3 billion from the Small Business Lending Fund, about a third of the funds that banks were seeking from the program and only 14% of the total available.

WASHINGTON — Loan quality improved slightly over the past six weeks while demand was stable to weak, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Federal Reserve Board.

In his new economic plan, the Republican presidential candidate offers his most detailed comments to date on last year's financial reform law. He also says that he'd amend the Sarbanes-Oxley in an effort to help mid-sized businesses.

President Obama should acknowledge that something is seriously wrong with the government's response to the financial crisis of 2008 and chart a new course. The wisdom in comic strip legend Pogo's famous remark comes to mind, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wednesday it is seeking public input on products and services aimed at members of the military and their families.

Financial services issues are not the priority on Capitol Hill, but several high profile issues are likely to impact banks.

WASHINGTON–In a long-awaited showdown over the future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Sept. 6, Republicans and Democrats sparred over whether the Senate should proceed with the nomination of the bureau’s first director.

Associated Banc-Corp in Green Bay, Wis., plans to raise more than $200 million in fresh capital and will use the proceeds to repay the balance of its debt to the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency aggressively pushed back Tuesday against claims that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were sophisticated investors that should have done a better job of vetting their purchases of mortgage-backed securities.

Federal restrictions on debit interchange are still causing sleepless nights for many bankers — even those whose institutions are exempt from the new fee caps.

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson's office is suing five Internet payday lenders that made loans to consumers in the state.

U.S. government-backed firms and agencies should "stop punishing banks" and suspend demands for mortgage repurchases because they are impeding an economic recovery, according to Paul Miller of FBR Capital Markets & Co.

Banks with assets of less than $10 billion are exempt from the Dodd-Frank Act's restrictions on debit interchange, but even those who are exempt from the law are still bracing for what they see as its inevitable effects on their checking accounts and other operations.

In the 1980s Freddie Mac had a marketing campaign "The Gnomes Know," touting their expertise in mortgage markets. Now the Federal Housing Finance Agency has filed a $200 billion lawsuit against 17 of the nation's largest mortgage lenders arguing that during the subprime lending debacle of the last decade the gnomes didn't know!