Law and regulation

Any new state laws on the issue would likely strengthen the bargaining power of Visa and MasterCard in negotiations with retailers over swipe fees.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has named Donna Murphy, a former Justice Department official, to head its consumer law division.

It's time to lower the $250,000 coverage ceiling on FDIC deposit insurance.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created under the 2010 Dodd-Frank reform law, will take a comprehensive look at the relationship between universities and banks. Observers say it is likely to result in new regulations and restrictions on certain practices.

Merchants shouldn't have their heads in the clouds when it comes to data security — especially when they rely on cloud computing to handle payment card data.

Merchant objections to the proposed $7.25 billion swipe-fee settlement are likely to mount following another delay in an appeal ruling.

Visa's V.me digital wallet is picking up momentum and the initiative is "right on the point of the spear" of the card network's product development strategy, Visa says.

Federal Reserve Board Governor Jeremy Stein on Thursday urged policymakers to consider using some of the central bank's monetary policy to help address gaps in regulation and foster greater financial stability.

Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry has promoted the agency's key bank mediator, Ombudsman Larry Hattix, into a newly created role as Senior Deputy Comptroller for Enterprise Governance.

The Federal Housing Administration has become the latest flash point in the battle over government's role in housing finance. American Banker editors discuss.

Taken to the extreme, new guidance from the Federal Reserve will require boards to evolve into something close to shadow management.

A group of House Democrats is urging President Barack Obama to nominate a permanent director for the Federal Housing Finance Agency to replace an acting chief they say is standing in the way of aid for struggling borrowers.

The Treasury Department has decided to cancel the auction of Coastal Banking Company's Troubled Asset Relief Program shares after the bank received approval to pay dividends.

Many companies are idling while the U.S. considers its options for handling the migration to chip cards from magnetic-stripe cards. Even a company based in the UK finds itself stuck.

Richmond Fed President Jeff Lacker has a much different approach to ending "too big to fail" than his central bank colleagues, including making it impossible for regulators to unwind a failing institution.

Jeremiah Norton, a board member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said Wednesday that regulators should consider proposing a stronger leverage ratio for banks to help protect the financial system.

Visa's quarterly earnings increased by 26% from a year earlier, and its financial outlook for 2013 has also brightened, the company said Feb. 6.

Federal Reserve Gov. Elizabeth Duke urged community bankers on Tuesday to continue lending despite challenges created by compliance with a host of new Dodd-Frank regulations.

A recent court ruling filed by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has casted doubt over whether renominated Richard Cordray will continue to serve as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Virtually all discussions of banking crises these days assume that depositors should always be protected, often at taxpayer expense. Let's consider whether at least some depositors should be bailed in.