Law and regulation

An analysis of campaign-finance data proves that the House Financial Services Committee is an excellent place for vulnerable freshmen to raise money.

The FDIC is objecting to Bank of America's proposed $8.5 billion mortgage-bond settlement with investors, joining investors and states that are challenging the agreement.

Loans or other investments that "revitalize or stabilize federally designated disaster areas" could help boost banks' scores on Community Reinvestment Act exams, the FDIC said in a letter to institutions.

It all seemed so simple. The cause of the financial crisis was that private label securitizers of subprime mortgage loans weren't required to "have enough skin in the game," so Dodd-Frank would require them to retain 5% of the risk.

ICBA says fair-lending actions overstep legal authority by focusing outside a bank's CRA assessment boundaries.

In 2008 the Democratic nominee raised far more money from Wall Street than John McCain. But for 2012, the financial industry is favoring Mitt Romney over the incumbent president.

Community bankers say they'll continue offering free checking for the foreseeable future, even if they're not entirely happy about it. If they followed the big banks by adding fees or changing terms, "we'd lose the accounts," says one local banker.

Krueger, who would succeed Austan Goolsbee on the Council of Economic Advisers, had stints in both the Treasury and Labor departments

Remember that fuss about the dire danger of having an unknowable but evidently substantial number of banks that are Too Big to Fail? The message was: "Stop that!"

The Federal Reserve Board said Friday it will hold three public hearings on Capital One Financial Corp.'s proposed $9 billion purchase of online bank ING Direct USA.

The $3.4 billion-asset company announced last week that it paid $600,000 for a ham — the grand champion ham at the 48th Kentucky Country Ham Auction, an annual charity event.

The Washington Monument and the National Cathedral got most of the press coverage, but the Capitol Hill beehive for financial industry insiders also sustained a bit of damage in Tuesday's earthquake.

The banking and credit union trade associations in Washington are not known to see eye to eye very often. But they do sometimes swap staff.

An internal battle among the state attorneys general over foreclosure problems has raised doubts about their ability to negotiate a successful settlement with banks.

With the Eastern Seaboard bracing Friday for the arrival of Hurricane Irene, the FDIC told banks to look in the not-too-distant past for how to deal with damaging storms.

A new Federal Reserve Board report refutes the claim by some that the Community Reinvestment Act and affordable housing goals of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac caused the mortgage crisis.

Nearly two years after HUD revamped mortgage disclosure rules, many lenders rely on manual processes — if any — and end up having to pay the difference between underestimated and actual closing costs.

In the Washington Post last week, housing columnist Kenneth Harney took an interesting look at mortgage loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Two more community banks have exited the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program with loans they received from another government fund designed to encourage small-business lending.

The Fed chairman said negotiations over the debt limit hurt the economy, and future such episodes could do even more damage.