Law and regulation

WICHITA, Kan. — A federal judge here yesterday dismissed the majority of $590 million of securities claims brought by NCUA against Credit Suisse Securities in the 2009 collapses of U.S. Central FCU and WesCorp, dealing the credit union regulator another defeat in its efforts to recoup losses for the biggest credit union failures ever.

EMV smart-card migration preparations in the U.S. will take on a more serious tone when the responsibility of covering fraud losses begins to shift.

More than half of the 4 million borrowers affected by the settlement will receive just $300, while three-quarters will receive less than $1,000, regulators said Tuesday.

Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase all received failing grades on Fannie Mae's test of mortgage servicers based on overall performance, customer service and foreclosure prevention efforts.

Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., David Vitter, R-La., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, are urging regulators to end "too big to fail" and delay Basel III requirements for small institutions.

A lack of communication allowed a number of banks to use funds from the small-business lending program to pay dividends or exit Tarp, Christy Romero wrote in a report issued Tuesday.

Jeffrey Lacker, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said Tuesday that resolution plans provided by banks will provide a concrete road map that regulators can use if a firm becomes troubled.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Vice Chairman Thomas Hoenig continued his drumbeat for a more straightforward capital measure in Basel III, and disputed arguments that a stronger leverage ratio will have unintended consequences.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., reintroduced legislation Tuesday to break up the largest financial institutions. The bill was light on details, however, and did not spell out how a breakup should be done.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created under the 2010 Dodd-Frank reform law, is now taking consumer complaints on money transfers before the agency finalizes any changes to its remittance rule.

Uwharrie Capital Corp. (UWHR) in Albemarle, N.C., has repaid more than three-fourths of the money it took through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

We must make clear that in all bank failures all creditors, other than insured depositors, will face risk of loss so that neither the FDIC nor taxpayers will lose money.

Forcing traders to strap computers on their heads may sound extreme, but consider the current threat. Saving billions from trading losses might take the sting out of the loss of privacy.

As regulatory scrutiny of third-party vendors is increasing, banks must improve their research and monitoring of the business they outsource.

Midwest BankCentre in Lemay, Mo., has warned its customers of a security breach, possibly involving its third-party vendors.

Mortgage servicers tied to the independent foreclosure review settlement will begin sending the first wave of $1.2 billion in checks to troubled borrowers on Friday, federal regulators said.

An honest debate over our "too big to fail" problem and a sound policy response are incompatible with a wait-and-see approach to the laws already on the books.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke rejected claims by big banks Monday that they should be able to see the equations the central bank uses when it calculates their stress test scores.

A provision that would raise capital standards at both small and large banks could potentially hamper the legislative effort to break up the biggest institutions.

Two Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. board members are urging policymakers to strengthen a leverage ratio that would be applied to banks of all sizes before regulators finalize the U.S. version of Basel III rules.