Law and regulation

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson and Sen. Mike Crapo, the panel's top Republican, announced Thursday they have reached an agreement on legislation to overhaul the Federal Housing Administration.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has named a new senior deputy comptroller for large banks.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized clarifications to its ability-to-repay and mortgage servicing rules Wednesday that include what lenders can use to calculate a borrower's debt-to-income ratio.

Fidor Bank AG, of Munich, has agreed to help Bitcoin Deutschland GmbH, an exchange operator, to speed trading of bitcoins and comply with regulatory requirements.

WASHINGTON — Four key senators introduced a bill Thursday that would effectively reinstate a Depression-era law that separated the investment and commercial sides of U.S. banks.

Applying the latest statistical techniques to measure operational risks lulls us into a false sense of analytic security and desensitizes management to the important qualitative aspects of controlling such exposures.

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Elizabeth Duke said Thursday that she was resigning from the central bank effective Aug. 31.

The bill may be a bridge between the advocates of a purely private market and those who favor some role for the federal government in housing.

Martin Pfinsgraff has officially been named the senior deputy comptroller for large banks at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Six regulatory agencies proposed an exemption from appraisal requirements for three types of higher-priced mortgage loans.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made it clear Wednesday that it would be using complaint data gathered from consumers to heavily pursue debt collection firms at every level through both enforcement actions and new rulemakings.

Ann Mehlum, the chief executive of Summit Bank of Eugene, Ore., will step down to lead the U.S. Small Business Administration's loan programs.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made it clear Wednesday that it would be using complaint data gathered from consumers to heavily pursue debt collection firms at every level through both enforcement actions and new rulemakings.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday regulators are still trying to make the central bank’s monetary policy mesh more with its financial stability goals.

In a setback for credit card issuers and a win for retailers, legislation that would bar merchants from charging customers to pay with plastic has stalled in about 15 states

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued bulletins on Wednesday warning any companies collecting debt that they would be held accountable for unlawfully dealing with consumers.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council, designed under the Dodd-Frank Act to identify risks to the stability of the financial system, unanimously voted Tuesday naming American International Group and GE Capital as systemically important institutions.

Six regulatory agencies on Wednesday issued a proposal that would exempt three types of higher-priced mortgage loans from appraisal requirements.

Lenders will need to evaluate and subsequently document their compliance with ability-to-repay and fair-lending rules in order to avoid getting caught in regulators’ crosshairs.

The long-anticipated collapse in mortgage applications, finally a reality, stands to take a bite out of bank earnings in the second quarter and beyond.