Law and regulation

New York's regulation of Bitcoin businesses is "still not perfect," a Circle Internet Financial executive says, but it didn't want to pull its services from the state as some have.

While Congress has been unable to pass housing finance reform, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have done a good job of adhering to some of the spirit of recent bipartisan legislation, according to Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics.

WASHINGTON — The number of mortgage originations dropped 31% to 6 million in 2014 due largely to a decline in refinancing as interest rates increased, according to a report issued Tuesday by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council.

Contrary to the CFPB’s paternalistic claims, most payday loan borrowers are aware that it may take them more than two weeks to repay the credit they take out.

Kelly Cochran has vetted every rule that comes out of the agency, making her one of the most influential people in the financial services industry.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s inspector general has cleared a senior attorney for the agency who had been accused of giving false testimony to lawmakers over the agency's role in "Operation Choke Point."

Despite pledges last year to move "aggressively" to implement new credit scoring models at the government-sponsored enterprises, the Federal Housing Finance Agency's effort appears to have stalled.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule Monday that will make it easier for some community banks to make qualified mortgages.

The half-a-percentage-point reduction in the Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance premium provided a bigger pop to the housing market than expected, according to Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics.

Bank executives and outside experts finger technology as the area most in need of improvement when it comes to vetting financial institutions' ability to withstand the next bit economic shock.

A shorter, less burdensome and more sensible call report is an important step toward reducing community banks' regulatory burden.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including banks' subpar shareholder value and how big-data advocates can better communicate with critics who worry about the technology's potential discriminatory effects.

Community banks are hoping regulators' recent decision to drop certain items from call reports is just the beginning of supervisory efforts to streamline the forms to reduce their burden.

The U.S. Treasury announced some limited changes to its sanctions regime against Cuba, allowing banks to open accounts for Cuban nationals outside Cuba and eliminating some restrictions on those accounts.

Lenders and vendors found no bad surprises in the Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act integrated disclosure exam guidance, but it didn't clarify much industry confusion either.

The government’s cap on interchange fees has failed to produce savings for consumers. That’s why the Federal Reserve should avoid dictating prices in the private sector.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and from our social media platforms.

In a series of internal documents that were reviewed by American Banker, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau officials repeatedly acknowledge its methodology could overcount the potential discrimination by firms, but say they prefer that to the alternative where bias is underestimated.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s involvement in the Justice Department's Operation Choke Point was minor, the agency's inspector general said Thursday.

The possibility that Congress may fail to pass a spending bill by the end of this month or not raise the debt ceiling had no bearing on the Federal Reserve Board’s decision to maintain its accommodative monetary policy, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said Thursday.