Law and regulation

California's financial regulator has baffled observers by sending a cease-and-desist "warning letter" to the Bitcoin Foundation. The letter accuses the nonprofit of acting as an unlicensed money transmitter, even though its main activities are promoting awareness of digital currencies and developing the Bitcoin protocol client software. Did the Golden State's bureaucrats blindly send out letters to any organization it could find with the word "bitcoin" in its name? This much is clear: Rapidly evolving payment technologies are confounding traditional ways of understanding money.

Leverage measures, which can zigzag with sudden inflows or outflows of deposits, should be viewed as a backstop to risk-based capital measures, not as a primary capital constraint.

It's been an eventful year so far in the payments industry. Exciting new technologies, dramatic executive turnover and ongoing courtroom drama have defined 2013's first six months.

Rep. Mel Watt defended his judgment and experience with housing issues during a hearing on his nomination to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, but it's unclear if the performance was enough to sway Republican opponents.

The CFPB is targeting more banks in a probe of an auto-loan program for military service members. Its $6.5 million settlement with U.S. Bancorp and a third-party service provider highlights the risks in vendor relationships.

The House Financial Services Committee squared off Wednesday over concerns with "too big to fail" and how the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act could possibly be improved to prevent any future bank bailouts.

The strengthening economy helped, but the improvement in credit quality was also aided by the sale of poor-performing loans to servicers that are outside the federal banking system.

When federal and state government agencies supplement direct deposit with an option to receive funds loaded on a prepaid debit card, they lower costs, improve security and enhance services by replacing traditional checks, concludes a report issued this week by the Association of Government Accountants.

When Wolters Kluwer asked bankers recently which regulatory concerns keep them up at night, 46% said "regulatory reform" — referring to new rules stemming from the Dodd-Frank Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board will meet Tuesday to vote on the Basel III capital and liquidity rules to be applied to U.S. banks, the central bank said Thursday.

Peter Aceto, the CEO of ING Direct Canada, joined the "Daily Show" in a spoof of bank regulation, but his appearance wasn't all laughs.

Show me an industry with artificially high barriers to entry, and you will almost certainly find dissatisfied customers paying higher prices to large, protected providers.

Institutions need to realize that, given the relative health of their asset portfolios and the current regulatory environment, valuations and deal prices will be below historical averages.

Merchants are expressing concern about the U.S. transition to EMV-chip payment cards because of what they view as technical challenges and industry politics.

Former Rep. Barney Frank, who served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee from 2007 to 2011, was presented Tuesday evening with an official portrait that will hang in the Rayburn committee room.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule Wednesday that expands its supervisory authority to begin selectively examining nonbank entities.

Sheila Bair, the former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chairman, urged Senate leaders to confirm Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at New York's Bryant Park Tuesday.

The House Financial Services Committee wrestled with concerns over "too big to fail" on Wednesday, pressing current and former regulators, including Richard Fisher and Sheila Bair, on how the Dodd-Frank Act could be improved to prevent future bank bailouts.

Issuers are adding another layer of protection at a time when lawmakers are examining how to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and bring private capital back into the mortgage market.

Various loan types have been yielding fatter margins over banks’ cost of funds through much of the Fed’s campaign to stimulate the economy. Blame banks' tight overall margins on cash and securities.