Law and regulation

The FDIC, OCC and Federal Reserve all plan to testify Tuesday that banks, not their regulators, are ultimately responsible for deciding who is an appropriate customer.

Federal and state authorities on Monday sought to rein in three companies accused of exploiting consumers struggling to pay off their debts.

The Justice Department's $7 billion deal with Citigroup is likely not the last big government maneuver to penalize banks for faulty mortgage-related practices leading to the financial crisis.

For months, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau floated a contract giving it control over the content of bank customers' complaints submitted online to the agency. It scrapped the plan after industry objections.

The alternative payments provider Dwolla insists that regulating Internet traffic will hurt startups, and it is among a group of companies that will argue this point before the Federal Communications Commission on July 15.

A recent report from the Center for Responsible Lending finds that debt settlement companies frequently fail to settle the bulk of their clients’ debts, leaving them in even weaker financial positions.

Two men who said they ran a payday loan brokerage in Tampa, Fla., have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from consumers' bank accounts.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says brokers will have to comply with compensation limits even if they are funding loans via a warehouse line of credit.

Last year's Supreme Court decision validating certain same-sex marriages has implications for laws implemented by the consumer bureau.

Wells Fargo executives said they support federal regulators' effort to expand mortgage credit availability but cautioned that it will produce little benefit for the bank's, or the industry's, bottom line.

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.

Radian Group and MGIC Investment are among mortgage insurers that would need to fill a financial gap under new financial-strength rules proposed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Reducing the number of Home Loan banks would lower the cost of advances for community banks, leaving them with more money to lend out to their communities.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has yet to issue broad rules for payday lenders, but the bureau's $10 million settlement with ACE Cash Express Thursday sends another strong message about the practices it may target.

In his first policy speech, Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair Stanley Fischer highlighted strides regulators have made since the crisis, but said more progress is necessary.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau settlement with ACE Cash Express Thursday sends another strong message about practices it may target in industry rules.

John Delaney, D-Md., John Carney, D-Del., and Jim Himes, D-Conn., introduced a new housing bill Thursday designed to provide an explicit government backstop for the market but still increase private sector participation.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has reached a $10 million settlement with payday lender ACE Cash Express over allegations that it used illegal debt collection practices.

Large bank holding companies defy both effective management and effective regulation. The solution is to allow shareholders of each company's subsidiary to choose its management and judge its performance.

Julian Castro, who was confirmed as the new secretary for housing and urban development, is bound to face continued industry lobbying to lower premiums paid to the Federal Housing Administration.