Law and regulation

The federal agency announced Friday that it was breaking up its complaint database by state and adding money transfer and credit reporting complaints to its already comprehensive look at consumer issues.

MasterCard Inc. will stop using Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for asset-management services after discussing the matter with a firm that advises shareholders on proxy votes.

Sen. Mike Crapo, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, is striking a new pose this week, announcing that he joined Instagram, an online social media service for sharing photos.

Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had to outline requirements to ensure lenders adequately assessed a borrower's ability to repay a loan and create ultra-safe "qualified mortgages" that were protected from legal liability. Despite the challenge, the mortgage rule revisions the agency provided were able to please both bankers and consumer groups.

The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act gave responsibility to the Financial Stability Oversight Council to identify several nonbank financial companies as systemically risky.

Benjamin K. Olson, who was deputy assistant director in the CFPB's office of regulations, has joined the Washington office of BuckleySandler LLP as counsel, the law firm said this week.

Freddie says its new "low-activity" fee will offset the cost of monitoring the loans it buys, but avoiding it could be a challenge for lenders in rural markets.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has taken enforcement actions against eight banks and freed 12 others from prior orders, according to a series of orders released Friday.

Net interest margins are complex beasts. During the last Fed tightening cycle, the yield curve turned negative and margins narrowed.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council is close to identifying several nonbank financial companies as systemically risky after spending years ironing out how it would undertake the first-time effort.

The lack of a standard technology model for mobile point of sale payments is not only holding back consumer adoption, it's also affecting regulatory compliance, says Mphasis' Kumail Tyebjee.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has managed to take one of the most controversial provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act — a rule that would effectively redefine the mortgage market — and craft it in a way to please both the banking industry and consumer groups.

Thirteen members of the House Financial Services Committee wrote to Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, asking for details in the agency's investigation into discriminatory auto lending.

Nancy Graves, who until last week served as assistant director of New Jersey's Department of Banking and Insurance, has joined Pascack Bancorp (PSBR) in Waldwick as president and chief executive.

New York's Department of Financial Services has reached a deal with several small specialty insurance carriers, triggering a statewide ban on force-placed insurance payments to banks.

Members of the House Financial Services Committee are pressing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for details about its investigation into discriminatory auto lending.

Among other problems, Goldman never mentions that one big reason it survived and thrived is that the bailout of AIG enabled it to repay Goldman and other counterparties at par.

"Digital currencies are exciting because of the innovation," but "being a financial institution comes with certain responsibilities," says Fincen Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery in a Q&A.

The Libor scandal ensnared a number of big banks and has heightened concerns that other indices are vulnerable to similar manipulation. That has led regulators to caution against such activity and indicates financial institutions would do well to ensure their risk management and compliance staffs are on high alert.

The Federal Reserve Board has taken action against two banks and terminated orders with four others, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp has freed Synovus Financial from an order.