Law and regulation

Bank of America agreed to pay $16.6 million to resolve claims it processed transactions for drug traffickers.

Banks can ensure that their oversight teams help to propel the whole company forward by creating a thorough governance structure and hiring overseers with experience in key business lines.

Banks face an overhaul of international rules for measuring losses on loans, derivatives and other assets as regulators seek to prevent a recurrence of the fire sales seen in the last financial crisis.

The U.S. Treasury, which finances more than 90 percent of new student loans, is exploring ways to make repayment more affordable as defaults by almost 7 million Americans and other strapped borrowers restrain economic growth.

Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle Internet Financial, explains how his company follows anti-money laundering and know-your-customer regulations in a field associated in the public mind with anonymity and black markets. He also discusses the risk-based approach to AML and why compliance won't necessarily undermine Bitcoin's cost advantage as a payment system.

The Federal Housing Administration is revamping its loan review processes to correct faulty underwriting in an effort to lure institutions back to the program.

Former Massachusetts Senator Barney Frank unsurprisingly defended the financial reform law, yet also indicated he disagreed with regulators on implementation of some elements and a push by Sen. Elizabeth Warren to restore Depression-era rules separating banking from other industries.

The riskiest money-market mutual funds will be required to abandon their stable, $1-share value and allow their prices to float under rules adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Two federal agencies and 15 states have taken more than 40 actions against foreclosure relief operations, alleging the firms charged distressed borrowers millions of dollars in fees without following through on service.

Lower rates of return would require insurers to charge higher premiums or stop covering loans to borrowers with lower credit scores. (You know, the ones the government wants to help?)

The Department of Veterans Affairs' residual income test would give lenders more confidence to make riskier loans, according to an Urban Institute study.

Federal Reserve stress tests evaluate banks' ability to withstand severely adverse scenarios like the Great Recession. But the next downturn may pose different problems, according to Tony Hughes of Moody's Analytics.

A federal judge has directed regulators to stop blocking a hedge fund from conducting discovery into the government's decision to sweep Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's profits in the coffers of the U.S. Treasury.

A highly anticipated government report due to be released July 31 is expected to say big banks received less of a subsidy from the perception that they are "too big to fail." But it remains uncertain whether that would continue to be true in a future crisis or if market conditions change.

U.S. regulators are poised to label MetLife a potential threat to the financial system, subjecting the insurer to oversight by the Federal Reserve, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Independent mortgage lenders are concerned that regulators will use the report as an excuse to raise minimum net worth requirements for smaller lenders.

As the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City prepares to host next month's annual gathering of central bankers in Wyoming, seasoned Fed watchers from the financial markets, including the chief U.S. economists of the biggest American banks, aren't being invited, according to past participants.

Between the proposed virtual currency regulations in New York and those already established in Texas, the future of Bitcoin would be brighter if more states follow the Lone Star State's example, says Jacob Farber, senior counsel for Perkins Coie LLP.

Advocates blame the securitization-financed, institutional-scale landlords for astronomical rents and poor maintenance and call for Congressional hearings and government oversight.

Most big banks have reported lower revenue for the second quarter, the downside of trying to beef up loans in a hotly competitive, low-rate lending market. Earnings reports at BB&T and SunTrust shed light on the problems of yield and margin that lie below the surface throughout the industry and threaten growth prospects.