Law and regulation

Regulators need to provide clear standards as to what constitutes an acceptable living will, according to the American Enterprise Institute's Abby McCloskey and Paul H. Kupiec.

Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen is facing the first real test to her agency's independence during her tenure, as House Republicans push a bill designed to broaden congressional oversight of the central bank and tie its hands regarding monetary policy.

The Export-Import Bank benefits just a handful of American companies and is weighed down by corruption, writes Ryan Young of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Regulators' blunt criticism of resolution plans of the 11 most complex banks still leaves pivotal questions about how the process moves forward, including what banks must do to avoid serious consequences.

Banks and other lenders appear to be waiting on a regulatory signal from the Federal Housing Finance Agency before approving loans for borrowers with less than stellar credit profiles.

Recent remarks by European politicians and HSBC chairman Douglas Flint are indicative of a mindset that's more interested in complaining about regulations than managing risk, according to Mayra Rodriguez Valladares.

Fed Gov. Tarullo's suggestion that directors should be more engaged in risk oversight is a dangerous development that, if implemented, would expose directors to more lawsuits and further discourage capable people from serving on boards, writes banking attorney John Gorman.

U.S. banks spent much of the last five years grappling with the legal fallout from the subprime housing bubble. Now, with the launch of a surprise inquiry by a hard-charging federal prosecutor in New York, lenders are wondering if subprime auto loans are next.

Bank of America Corp. is nearing a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department in which it will pay between $16 billion and $17 billion to resolve probes into its sale of mortgage-backed bonds in the run-up to the financial crisis, a person familiar with the matter said.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau named 10 banks and credit unions on Wednesday that it claimed were not being transparent about their agreements with large universities to market financial products to students.

From the architects of multibillion-dollar mortgage settlements comes the latest scare for banks: a Department of Justice investigation of subprime auto lending. But the auto loan market has a different track record and players than mortgages, setting the stage for a unique fight among prosecutors, lenders and dealers.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Federal Reserve Board offered blunt criticism of "living wills" filed by the most complex banks, and warned that failure to improve their 2015 plans could have consequences.

President Obama became the latest policymaker to wish he could make the regulatory system simpler and more efficient. Yet there are powerful reasons why it will never happen. Here's why.

Citigroup's $285 million mortgage-securities pact with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was approved by a judge whose earlier rejection of the accord was assailed by a federal appeals court.

A report on big bank subsidies offers proof that statutory, regulatory, and industry changes have strengthened the financial system in the years since the crisis, according to Financial Services Forum chief Rob Nichols.

The skill set of successful military commanders makes them uniquely well-suited to compliance roles in today's strict regulatory environment, writes former U.S. Army Captain Jonathan Hendershott.

In politics, every penny counts to secure a candidate's position in office. Bitcoin's low cost of acceptance, accompanied by increasing clarity from regulators over its role in campaigns, is making it a more appealing choice for accepting donations.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has issued new guidelines on the sale of consumer debt, a move that could help reform a practice that consumer groups say is plagued by errors and abuses.

The Department of Justice subpoena asks for documents related to representations and warranties made by GM's financing arm on auto loans that were packaged into securities.

When consumer groups sent mystery shoppers into big-bank branches to learn about overdraft coverage, they were given information that was incomplete, confusing or flat-out wrong, according to a new report.