Law and regulation

A small mutual thrift in Maryland has won approval from state and federal regulators to convert to a publicly traded company.

Efforts to reach a settlement that would end the long-running probe of foreclosure practices are snagged over whether banks will get broad legal immunity from state officials for mortgage-related claims.

Since U.S. legislators and regulators failed to learn how banks' shared delusions generate systemic risk, it's not surprising that European banking regulators also missed the point.

Regulators closed banks in Florida, Georgia and Illinois Friday, all in places were many banks have already met their demise. On Thursday, a bank failed in Pennsylvania, one of just a handful to fail in that state in the last few years.

Amid renewed fears that the euro-zone crisis could put fresh pressure on short-term funding, an unidentified bank made use of the Federal Reserve's swap facility via the Swiss National Bank, borrowing $200 million earlier this month.

A liberal blog charges that House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa hired a former Goldman Sachs executive helped thwart regulations that would affect the investment bank's bottom line.

Davis Polk announced Thursday that antitrust expert and Georgetown law professor Howard Shelanski is joining the firm's Washington office.

American Banker challenged the enforcement record of the FHA under the leadership of former commissioner David Stevens. During this period the program took important steps to reduce its risk.

Bank regulators have long kept state officials at arm's length, but the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is forging a close relationship with state attorneys general to enforce consumer banking laws.

A top Federal Reserve official on Friday downplayed the idea that the central bank was overly concerned about a new banking crisis, adding that the Fed was constantly monitoring institutions in both Europe and the U.S.

Once a fairly obscure self regulatory organization, the National Futures Association will likely soon be charged with overseeing the swaps market. How much responsibility the NFA takes on will be determined by how cash-strapped the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is.

One of the vital lessons learned from our ongoing financial crisis is the difficulty in measuring the potential impacts of a large, cross-border bank failure. Variance in supervisory processes, regulatory and firm readiness, bankruptcy laws, resolution regimes, policy responses, and official sector coordination mechanisms exposed a vacuum of information necessary to reduce the amplification of stress. These gaps impose enormous un-funded costs to the system.

In a rare Thursday failure, regulators shut a small Pennsylvania bank that serves the Orthodox Jewish community.

American International Group paid back another $2.15 billion of the $180 billion in government assistance it received during the financial crisis, the Treasury Department said Thursday.

Traditionally, objections to a merger deal are primarily fought over Community Reinvestment Act and consumer protection concerns. But the Massachusetts Democrat raised a new concern by citing fears on the size of the combined bank.

Elizabeth Warren filed papers Thursday to establish an exploratory committee, which will allow her to raise money for a potential Senate campaign.

The banking crisis in Georgia has spread to the state capital, as several lawmakers, including the governor, have personal ties to some of the state’s failed banks.

In theory, nearly everyone thought it was a good idea to require issuers of mortgage securities to hold onto some of the risk. But in creating an exemption to those rules, lawmakers have virtually guaranteed it won't happen. The inside story of how it happened.

WASHINGTON — Lending to small businesses in the U.S. declined last year as the economy struggled to recover from recession and access to credit only started to show signs of improvement, regulators said Thursday.

Federal regulators are intensifying their scrutiny of the U.S. arms of European banks amid concerns about those institutions' abilities to fund themselves, according to people familiar with the matter.