Law and regulation

The best way to prevent the repo market from freezing up in a future crisis is to require broker-dealers to use Treasury securities as collateral.

MasterCard Inc. won a court clash with European Union antitrust regulators who refused to hand over a study comparing the costs of bank cards with cash.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is receptive to the idea of Federal Home Loan Bank mergers, according to the agency's director.

In Indonesia, Bank Tabungan is partnering with financial services software company Compass Plus to navigate the issuance of EMV-chip cards ahead of its national deadline.

The Mortgage Bankers Association announced two promotions Monday as part of an organizational realignment plan.

The federal bank regulators proposed more consideration for small-dollar lending and non-branch services as part of a second round of targeted Community Reinvestment Act reforms.

Community bankers are launching a last-ditch effort to push the Senate this year to pass more than a dozen bipartisan regulatory relief bills that have already cleared the House with support from both parties.

Bankers joined loan guarantors in pushing the Federal Housing Finance Agency to ease proposed capital rules for mortgage insurers, saying the plan will make borrowing less affordable for homebuyers unless it's revised.

The Federal Reserve is making clear that the status quo, in which U.S. electronic payments take days to complete, is not going to hold, an industry analyst says.

Dodd-Frank has failed to solve the too big to fail problem, according to consultant J.V. Rizzi — and some of the best solutions, like breaking up the banks, are also the most unlikely.

Citigroup has promoted Peter Charrington to global head of Citi Private Bank.

A recent study suggests that credit card issuers' marketing practices show evidence of racial bias. The good news is that self-tests can help lenders fix fair lending compliance issues, according to Rich Walker of the Winterberry Group.

WASHINGTON — Several trade groups representing Federal Home Loan bank members are urging a federal regulator to extend the comment period on a controversial proposal to change the system’s membership requirements.

In signing off on the new "liquidity coverage ratio," Federal Reserve Board officials provided a strong signal that the regulatory work on liquidity standards is just getting started.

Community banks are fighting a plan unveiled by the Federal Housing Finance Agency that would force many banks and thrifts to maintain at least 10% of their assets in the form of home loans or mortgage-backed securities.

Bankers criticize credit unions' tax-exempt status because they fear they are losing ground to member-owned financial cooperatives, writes the Credit Union National Association's Bill Hampel.

MetLife, which has 30 days to request a hearing to contest its designation, said it "strongly disagrees" with the decision of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

Even with tweaks making the final "heightened expectations" guidelines easier for the largest institutions, it represents a significant shift in the power given to examiners when overseeing institutions, experts said.

The regional Federal Reserve banks are trying to maintain momentum in their efforts to improve the U.S. payment system.

One reason so many federal thrifts have switched to other charters is that the Qualified Thrift Lender test impedes their commercial lending. However, a top regulator says he wants it eliminated.