Law and regulation

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors wants Congress to adopt a formal community bank definition, based on qualitative factors such as local governance structure and business models.

The Financial Stability Board’s proposed capital and long-term debt requirements would only go part of the way toward ending the risk of government bailouts. If regulators really want to get rid of too big to fail, they need to deal with over-the-counter derivatives market.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, countering criticism from members of Congress, said the central bank is trying to avoid being too cozy with the Wall Street firms it supervises and wants to ensure that regulators aren't afraid to confront the financial industry.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray said a review of its "qualified mortgage" rule will allow enough time to consider changes if lawmakers fail to make progress on housing finance before a key deadline.

The paper by a consultant with the Office of Financial Research said that projected losses in the 2013 and 2014 tests were "nearly perfectly correlated," suggesting that the tests have become "less informative."

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals today revived the National Credit Union Administration's suit against Barclays Capital that claims the bank misrepresented more than $555 in mortgage-backed securities that led to the failure of two corporate credit unions.

California assemblyman Matt Dababneh, D-Encino, has proposed AB 1326, a bill that provides guidelines for any individual or business that wants to start using virtual currency.

There was plenty for banks to be encouraged about in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s most recent Quarterly Banking Profile, which reported comprehensive industry earnings for the fourth quarter and all of 2014. Community bank lending is showing steady growth, capital levels keep rising and the FDIC's insurance reserves are stabilizing. But the numbers also contained worrisome signs. Here are key takeaways from the report.

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to a $50.4 million settlement with the Justice Department for robo-signing documents sent to homeowners in bankruptcy and for related abuses.

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to a $50.4 million settlement with the Justice Department for robo-signing documents sent to homeowners in bankruptcy and for related abuses.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency released a set of new rules for the sale of troubled mortgages by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

There should be little debate as to whether the U.S. payment system is falling behind the rest of the world. Great Britain and others lead the world in real time payment options at affordable prices to consumers, merchants and other payment stakeholders.

Though stress tests are widely viewed as a successful and critical exercise, there are growing concerns that regulators — and the banks themselves — may have become too reliant on them, overshadowing other aspects of the supervisory process.

Billionaire Warren Buffett, who has profited from investing in banks while faulting the financial industry's lapses, said Senator Elizabeth Warren's approach to Wall Street is too confrontational.

Lawmakers reluctant to offer community banks regulatory relief should consider the empirical evidence of how Dodd-Frank has hurt small lenders — and listen to the federal and state bank regulators calling for changes.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said on Monday it had picked Patrick Harker, currently president of the University of Delaware, as its next president, effective July 1.

An audit of Ginnie Mae financials identified four "material weaknesses" and one "significant deficiency," primarily related to the accounting of $6.6 billion in defaulted loans made by the failed lender Taylor, Bean & Whitaker.

Popular and FirstBank gained critical branches and deposits in a region where growth is hard to come by. Some observers said it could also benefit the island to have one less competitor.

Hudson City Bancorp in Paramus, N.J., has been released from an enforcement action with federal regulators.

The Fed's annual dissection of each of the 31 largest U.S. banks is a painstaking and enormously complicated endeavor. This is an inside look at how it works.