Law and regulation

More than five years after the financial crisis, President Obama could once again turn some attention to the Dodd-Frank Act and the housing market during his State of the Union address next week.

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

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) gave Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon a 74 percent raise to $20 million last year, bringing his pay closer to where it stood before the board faulted his oversight of botched derivatives bets.

Regulators have been investigating a broader range of offenses that can trigger money laundering charges than a few years ago, says Henry Balani, a managing director at consulting firm Accuity. In addition to traditional predicate offenses (such as sanctions violations), banks now must guard against potential laundering of proceeds from tax evasion, bribery and corruption, and securities and mortgage fraud. Also, global banks that hope to grow by financing trade, particularly in newly opened markets like Shanghai, must make sure that the goods transported under their letters of credit are not used for nefarious purposes, Balani says.

Only three pages out of 40 in the OCC’s recent report cover interest rate risk. The discussion is toward the back. And the detail provided in quantifying exposures is scant.

WASHINGTON — The spotlight on massive credit card breaches at retailers has again prompted lawmakers to consider data security reform, but whether a bill will actually move through Congress is still a huge question mark.

Large international money transmitters would have to follow the same federal remittance rules that apply to banks under a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposal released today.

A new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposal would put large nonbank money transmitters on more equal footing with banks and credit unions required to follow federal remittance rules.

Farmers Capital Bank (FFKT) in Frankfort, Ky., is one step closer to being freed from a regulatory order.

The Target and Neiman Marcus breaches have reignited data security as an issue on Capitol Hill, but many hurdles still stand in the way of legislation.

The U.S. Treasury Department will offer $15 billion in its first auction of floating-rate notes next week, trying to capitalize on robust investor demand for the safest short-term investments.

Regulators are starting to scrutinize Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to determine whether it is important enough to the financial system to require Federal Reserve supervision, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Financial institutions that can figure out how to couple an efficient and optimized loan process with personalized service will win in the future.

Mary Miller, Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, said regulators must standardize how institutions report the data meant to help officials gauge systemic risks.

The U.S. government needs more time to assess the Bitcoin "phenomenon" to ensure the virtual currency isn't used for unlawful purposes, Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said.

First Financial Bancorp (FFBC) in Cincinnati warned that it will take a hit to fourth-quarter earnings because of a $22.4 million valuation adjustment to its indemnification asset from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Market participants should weigh in on Basel’s latest consultative document in order to strengthen safety and soundness in growing global securitization markets.

Bank deposit advances, which strongly resemble payday loans, have been facing extinction since coming into the crosshairs of federal banking regulators.

Regulators acted last week to try to ease the pain for community banks that hold complex securities covered by the Volcker Rule. But for some institutions, the fix either came too late or didn't help at all. Following are banks that were expected to take a loss as a result of the Volcker Rule.

The investigation's nickname is "Operation Choke Point," and that seems appropriate, because a noose appears to be tightening around the necks of banks that have ties to online payday lenders.