Law and regulation

Mortgage disclosures and supervision of non-bank entities will be top concerns for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as it enters its third official year of operation, according to its semi-annual rulemaking agenda released Wednesday.

Wal-Mart and Home Depot are among the companies being investigated by the New York attorney general over fees charged employees on prepaid cards used as worker paychecks.

Prudential Financial Inc.'s appeal against a designation that the firm is systemically important is unlikely to succeed, observers said, but could force the Federal Reserve Board to detail more about how it will supervise such companies.

A former president and chief executive of a Tennessee bank is going to prison for bank fraud.

Amazon.com Inc. and 7-Eleven Inc. sued Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. over card fees after rejecting a multibillion-dollar settlement in an antitrust case.

The Federal Reserve's Tuesday vote on Basel III capital rules resulted in mostly good news for small banks and a harsh but expected message for large ones. For institutions of all sizes much remains to be decided, however. American Banker's Donna Borak explains.

The industry doesn't need to invest millions in further education and legislation. The road to a good credit score is pretty straightforward.

There were three issues that dominated Washington in June: cybersecurity, CFPB rules and staffing problems, and the unexpected emergence of a bipartisan housing finance reform bill. Following are the stories you don't want to miss:

HSBC's $1.9 billion agreement with the U.S. to resolve charges it enabled Latin American drug cartels to launder billions of dollars was approved by a federal judge.

Prudential Financial Inc., the No. 2 U.S. life insurer, is contesting a U.S. finding that it poses a potential risk to the financial system, becoming the first company to challenge the tag that brings additional oversight.

Wells Fargo and HSBC are among four banks that submitted "living wills," or road maps to help regulators safely dismantle them if they fail. Royal Bank of Scotland and BNP Paribas also filed.

Community bankers emerged victorious Tuesday after regulators made a number of key changes to a final package of Basel III capital rules in an effort to address smaller institutions' concerns. But the biggest banks, in contrast, fared far worse.

The FTC's move to hold payment processors responsible for the deeds of unscrupulous merchants could result in higher prices or fewer choices for small businesses and consumers.

MetLife and Prudential Financial have been joined by state regulators challenging the Federal Reserve on how to oversee the biggest insurers under the Dodd-Frank law.

Big banks are facing unprecedented pressure from federal and state regulators to rein in their consumer credit card collections practices following revelations of improper behavior.

Companies that create goods or enhance existing services are seen as innovative and responsive. Businesses that impose fees without adding value often wind up paying a reputational price.

The Office of the Comptroller of Currency has begun issuing its examiners "best practice" guidelines to end big banks' use of faulty records in the sale of defaulted consumer debt. The move could threaten billions of dollars of sales to collections agencies.

Sen. Mike Crapo, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, is asking the Government Accountability Office to look into the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's data collection efforts.

The former president of the failed Mutual Bank in Harvey, Ill., has been banned from the banking industry by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday met to vote on a final Basel III package, which represents the most significant overhaul of regulatory capital requirements for U.S. institutions.