Law and regulation

A recap of the informed opinions (and they discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

Retailers face an uphill battle after an appeals court panel rules that banks shouldn't have to sacrifice another big chunk of their debit interchange revenue.

Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN), Switzerland's second-biggest bank, agreed to pay $885 million to settle lawsuits by the Federal Housing Finance Agency over mortgages sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

American Express Co. paid Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Chenault $24.4 million for 2013, an 11 percent increase over the previous year.

A coalition of advocacy groups announced their opposition Friday to a bill by Senate Banking Committee leaders to overhaul the housing finance system, citing concerns about market access for low-income and minority families.

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that the Federal Reserve acted appropriately in setting restrictions on debit card swipe fees, marking a critical victory for banks and a major setback for retailers. American Banker editors discuss what the ruling is likely to mean for the debit card industry and whether it represents the end of the high-stake battle.

A federal appeals court panel ruled today that the existing restrictions on debit card swipe fees should largely stand, turning back a challenge by retailers who argued that banks are still earning too much money from the fees.

A federal appeals court panel ruled Friday that the existing restrictions on debit card swipe fees should largely stand, turning back a challenge by retailers who argued that banks are still earning too much money from the fees.

If government bureaucrats, acting without statutory authority, can coerce banks into denying services to firms engaged in lawful behavior that the government does not like, where does it stop?

The Volcker Rule will cost U.S. national banks as much as $4.3 billion to implement, according to a study by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Alfred DelliBovi, the head of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York and a lion of housing finance, submitted his resignation Thursday after 21 years as president.

The Federal Reserve Board released its second annual round of stress tests mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act on Thursday, providing a glimpse into how the country's biggest firms would fare under a hypothetical economic crisis.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a report Thursday showing consumers are being "hounded" by debt collectors, adding more fuel to the fire in the agency's efforts to crack down on the industry's bad actors.

Activist investor Carl Icahn, who has been calling for eBay to spin off PayPal, is now asking for eBay to conduct a partial initial public offering of the payments processor.

QR codes, which are commonly used in mobile wallets to link to a consumer's payment account, can just as easily link to phishing sites, malware and other nasty surprises.

Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday suggested policymakers could begin to lift interest rates roughly six months after the central bank winds down its bond buying program this fall — a timeline that pointed to spring of 2015.

Regulators are laser-focused on compliance, particularly when reviewing merger applications. Associated, recently freed from an enforcement action, could use its clean bill of health to woo sellers.

Consumer advocates clashed with representatives of the data broker industry about whether to regulate certain kinds of credit scores and other data that may fall in between the cracks of existing laws.

Discover Financial Services awarded Chief Executive Officer David Nelms a 2013 cash bonus that was 38 percent less than the previous year.

This behind-the-scenes attempt to shut down legal tribal businesses represents a total departure from more than a century of respect for, and engagement with, tribal governments as partners and co-regulators on issues ranging from law enforcement to economic development to education.