Law and regulation

WASHINGTON -- Eugene Ludwig, founder of Promontory Financial Group and former Comptroller of the Currency, was recognized Thursday evening by the Foreign Policy Association for his contributions to financial services.

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

The Treasury Department is searching for a bank to support the government's new retirement savings bond program.

Global banking regulators should increase their focus on uniform capital standards and be less flexible about how risk-weighted assets are calculated, according to consultant Mayra Rodríguez Valladares. She spoke with American Banker about how to strengthen the banking system by giving the Basel committee "more credibility."

Comedy Central's fake-news host jokes that embattled exchanges like Mt. Gox should "institutionalize" their mishaps like the big banks do.

The three-year statute of limitations from when bank failures peaked has already passed, and yet filings of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. suits against former officers and directors continue to grow.

The Republican-led House approved a bill Thursday evening that would drastically alter the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Consumers facing mortgage trouble want help and are looking everywhere for it. Paying close attention to where and how homeowners seek information is how the servicing industry will put itself on the fast track to a better reputation.

Some governments are getting into the digital currency game, offering their own alternatives to cash with traits that differ in meaningful ways from cross-border cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

The National Fair Housing Alliance is accelerating efforts to force mortgage lenders, servicers and trustees to do a better job of maintaining foreclosed properties in minority neighborhoods.

After pressure from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said she agreed with a proposal to require the central bank's board to vote on significant enforcement actions.

Credit unions' tax exemption looks safe again this year on Capitol Hill, but that didn't stop the American Bankers Association from mounting an intense advertising and lobbying attack that also served as rallying cry for the Credit Union National Association.

Calling Bitcoin a "payment innovation," Fed Chair Janet Yellen said it is not easy to supervise the digital currency because "there's no central issuer or network operation."

Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen said today that the central bank does not have the power to supervise Bitcoin, the most widely-recognized digital currency.

Instead of dwelling on tired arguments, industry reps and consumer advocates should focus on, among other things, ending the debt cycle, promoting financial literacy and helping borrowers build credit.

The U.S. payments industry has long agreed to disagree on the way to properly route EMV debit transactions, stalling the country's shift to chip-based cards. First Data hopes its decision to support and share Visa's technology will finally break the stalemate.

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the hedge fund's lawsuit against the government will not be thrown out of court, allowing it to proceed with discovery.

Bank of America officials said Wednesday that the federal government made a mistake when calculating a proposed penalty on its gross "gain" from defective mortgages sold by its Countrywide unit.

The FDIC released its Quarterly Banking Profile on Wednesday, detailing the highs and lows for banks in the fourth quarter and for all of 2013. Following are some of the key points unveiled:

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is asking banks to voluntarily provide their customers with credit scores used to make lending decisions.