Law and regulation

Maine Attorney General William Schneider's office reached an agreement with Texas-based debt management company Credit Solutions of America Inc. to settle charges of unfair trade practices.

The article "Bankers Fear 'Witch Hunt' in Government Pursuit of Fair Lending Cases" [Aug 2] chronicles the response of bankers, advocates, the Department of Justice itself, and others to "an aggressive push by the Justice Department to investigate fair lending claims..." and "...the launch last year of a special fair-lending unit within Justice's civil rights division...investigating claims of bank discrimination in their credit policies."

Community bankers have a chance to have our issues heard over the next few months on the national front.

Changes to expungement procedures have made it tougher for brokers to sanitize their records, but a continuing practice may help them avoid disclosing certain details that should be public.

Neither the questions nor the answers lived up the hype during the 90-minute public conference call hosted by investor Bruce Berkowitz.

Democrats and Republicans choose hard-liners as co-chairs of joint committee on deficit reduction, suggesting compromise may be hard to reach.

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators are seeking input on new options for selling foreclosure properties owned by the government sponsored enterprises and the Federal Housing Administration.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon ruled out accepting any political appointment, and said Wednesday that while the economy is getting stronger, the recovery is "stuck." Dimon also strongly disagreed with assessments that the U.S. banking industry can't grow.

PIN-based authorizations should be made compulsory for all debit and credit smart card transactions at the point of sale instead of allowing cardholder signatures to authorize transactions, a Reserve Bank of India committee is recommending.

Subprime credit card issuer First Premier Bank is suing the Federal Reserve Board and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over a new rule that would limit fees the issuer charges high-risk customers when opening card accounts.

Even though banks are being required by new rules to put stronger security in place for online banking, two thirds of bankers think they will never be able to get cyber crime under control, according to a Fundtech survey.

Three years after the crisis, the rules governing finance haven't changed enough to ward off fear and dread. But a giant reg coming from the Fed should bring enough clarity to prevent panic.

James Grant discusses the consequences of money printing and the prospects for returning to a convertible currency.

A little over one year ago Congress overwhelmingly passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, more commonly known as Dodd-Frank. Though many parts of the bill are controversial, none has sparked more debate than Title X, which created and authorized the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

William A. Cooper makes a cameo appearance in Ryan Lizza's profile of the GOP presidential hopeful.

The Federal Reserve's decision to keep federal fund rates at near zero levels until 2013 has sparked some concern by observers that banks could be in for more agony in the near future.

Federal agents arrested four Florida men Tuesday on charges that they scammed thousands of homeowners who were seeking loan modifications, according to authorities.

The downgrade of U.S. debt is likely to push regulators to fulfill a Dodd-Frank mandate to find alternatives to credit ratings, but it won't be easy.

The Federal Open Market Committee decided to leave its target rate unchanged at 0.0-0.25% and said "downside risks to the economic outlook have increased" and economic conditions "are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through mid 2013."

American Banker offers tough questions for hedge fund manager Bruce Berkowitz to put to the embattled Bank of America CEO on Wednesday. Add your own queries to our list.