Law and regulation

Despite pressure from the Obama administration, banks are not going public with their concerns if the debt ceiling isn't increased, instead quietly urging members to wrap it up as they prepare contingency plans.

The former House Speaker opines on how small institutions were damaged by Dodd-Frank, and what he would do differently if elected president.

In an interview at his Washington office, Gingrich showed he hasn't lost his touch for a barbed one-liner as he attacked the Dodd-Frank law from every angle. Following is an edited transcript.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency definitely got the better end of its merger with the Office of Thrift Supervision. But among the downsides: The OCC is now on the legal hook for closing a thrift it never regulated.

Wells Fargo & Co. will have to pay an $85 million civil penalty for misleading borrowers into costly subprime loans, the Federal Reserve Board reported this week.

As we say in New York, the new agency is going to be a first-class “noodge” – pushing and cajoling the industry to simplify, clarify and and modify some of its practices.

WASHINGTON — Two failed banks in Florida went to one acquirer Friday, and regulators also shut a $1 billion-asset bank in Colorado, as the year's failure total reached 58.

For years, banks and Wall Street have argued that over-regulation will drive the financial services industry overseas, a claim that has rung hollow as such a scenario has so far failed to materialize.

WASHINGTON — As Washington's banking-policy community was focused on the first anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act, one important player in the law's passage was noticeably absent.

WASHINGTON — The Senate Banking Committee hearing on Thursday was dryly titled "Enhanced Oversight After the Financial Crisis: The Wall Street Reform Act at One Year." For the first 20 minutes, a catchier and perhaps more apt name would have been "The Barney Frank Show."

WASHINGTON — After more than 26 years as a lobbyist for the American Bankers Association, Floyd Stoner plans to retire at the end of the year.

A five-time, undefeated Jeopardy! champion who was tapped to monitor banks' compliance with consumer rules. Who is Richard Cordray?

With loan demand still weak in many areas of the country, more and more bankers are starting to believe that their banks will need to merge with other institutions to achieve meaningful growth.

WASHINGTON — House Republicans celebrated the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's first day by advancing a bill that would dilute the bureau's authority.

New report from the Federal Reserve estimates the cost to consumers last year for using government prepaid cards.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sent letters Thursday to the 111 large banks it plans to supervise, outlining its approach to bank supervision and enforcement.

On the one-year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act, Democratic lawmakers and key financial regulators called on Congress to resist Republican efforts to cut funding to implement and enforce the law's sweeping new regulations.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said he would back a more explicit pledge by the central bank to keep interest rates low if the third quarter proves to be weak, and doesn't rule out the possibility that near-zero rates will rise after mid-2012.

The Treasury Department has ordered board appointments to two banking companies that have missed dividend payments on its bailout investments.

Six Federal Home Loan banks have launched a salvo against Bank of America Corp.'s proposed $8.5 billion mortgage bondholder settlement, suggesting the payout may need to be triple that amount.