Law and regulation

Karen Shaw Petrou, a top financial analyst, is calling for the U.S Trade Representative to work with the banking agencies to help establish an international framework for financial regulation. If not, she fears countries will adopt increasingly protectionist policies.

The Federal Reserve Board has lifted an enforcement action against Central Pacific Financial in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Rep. Maxine Waters has asked regulators for additional information regarding the work some consultants did as part of the troubled independent foreclosure review process.

Attendees at this year's American Bankers Association conference for community banks want to exude confidence but worries over proposed capital requirements still have them spooked.

Coinbase makes it simple to buy and sell bitcoins via a bank account, but plays only to the low-fee, frictionless nature of Bitcoin and fails to leverage its unique privacy aspects.

Payment technology is gaining momentum and changing rapidly. More and more places around the world are adopting unique methods of payment.

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has closed the $58.4 million-asset Covenant Bank on Chicago's West Side.

In her first extensive interview since becoming the lead Democrat on the House banking panel, Rep. Maxine Waters says she has learned a lot from watching former Rep. Barney Frank's leadership and will strive to emulate his example.

Late-night comedian Stephen Colbert's show on Feb. 14 was almost entirely devoted to financial services issues, including an attack on Wells Fargo's decision to fire a call center employee and a cameo by Sheila Bair.

Bankers want to get a better understanding of how to run their businesses at a time of regulatory uncertainty.

The anonymous digital currency Bitcoin, which is already accepted on the Wordpress blogging site, has another mainstream partner. Reddit, the social news and entertainment site, now accepts bitcoins as payment for Reddit Gold, a subscription service.

The American Bankers Association announced Feb. 12 that Jason Kratovil has been hired as vice president and deputy executive director for the ABA's Card Policy Council. His first day is Feb. 19.

A report by the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets blog highlights which lawmakers are often borrowers.

In a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the agency needed to guard against unclear and inefficient supervision, recommending several changes.

President Obama's executive order on cybersecurity calls on intelligence agencies to share information about digital threats with the private sector, but the agencies may have trouble sharing information themselves.

Boosting regulatory oversight of Wall Street firms will better allocate examiner resources to the riskiest financial firms and help reduce unnecessary burdens on community banks.

At a Senate Banking Committee hearing on the implementation of Dodd-Frank, Sen. Elizabeth Warren demanded to know why regulators are not pursuing banks in court.

The American Airlines and US Airways merger will heat up the competition between the two large issuing banks behind the airlines' rewards credit card programs, Citigroup Inc. and Barclays plc.

Physical cash is on its way out and won't be missed, but even in an all-digital future the option of anonymous, untraceable consumer payments must remain

Labeling a firm "systemically important" will tip the competitive scales one way or the other – to no purpose, since the exercise is premised on a misunderstanding of the 2008 financial crisis.