Law and regulation

The U.S. Federal Reserve Board plans to get a better idea of how Americans are making payments — when they don’t use cash.

House Democrats, including Maxine Waters, want a court to uphold a rule mandated under Dodd-Frank that requires disclosure of foreign extraction payments.

Real GSE reform could take years. That's too bad, but in the meantime, the FHFA can start to redesign the securitization process – and phase out redundancies between Fannie and Freddie.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. As excerpted from the Comments sections of AmericanBanker.com articles.

The concept of making anonymous online transactions is in the spotlight because of the prominence of the digital currency Bitcoin, but most consumers remain uneasy with the cryptocurrency's instability and risk. An alternative for the privacy-minded might sprout from Tor, or The Onion Router.

National Mortgage Insurance Co., a new company based in Emeryville, Calif., announced Thursday that Fannie and Freddie have granted it approval as an eligible mortgage insurer.

One week after American Express Co. announced that its fourth-quarter earnings fell sharply from a year earlier, the company filled in more details Thursday.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new mortgage servicing rules may force some servicers to exit the business altogether or simply outsource servicing of defaulted loans to third-parties, experts said Thursday.

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown wrote a letter to regulators Thursday, arguing that "breaking the law should not be a business expense."

Piggyback litigation often follows regulatory actions, and the laws under the CFPB's jurisdiction all but invite follow-on private lawsuits. A huge number of companies may be exposed.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is all about money — but increasingly, the question is whether it's about protecting money or making money.

Citigroup's disappointing fourth-quarter report included an unexpected $500 million legal reserve related to its U.S. consumer businesses, as the CFPB reviews the bank's card products.

Shareholders, Congress and federal banking regulators are demanding greater accountability from executives and boards for risk management lapses. States ought to rise with the tide.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was set to unleash an additional series of rules Thursday dictating how mortgage servicers interact with homeowners. The mandates are likely to come as highly unwelcome news to the industry.

Mary Jo White, the former U.S. attorney in Manhattan, is under consideration to become the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, three people with knowledge of the matter said.

Strip nonbank broker-dealers of their ties to the banking system, and the market will demand stronger capital and safer asset growth from these firms, making their failures less systemically dangerous.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a set of new rules Thursday that detail additional requirements for mortgage servicing. Like the QM rule, the new servicing rules will be effective Jan. 10, 2014.

A top Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. official said late Tuesday that the initial phase of large firms preparing wind down plans has been a "positive first step."

Taking money from available funds to reserve against "Too Big to Fail" may save the banks, but put the countries and their economies into recession.

Just a week after overhauling how mortgages are underwritten, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was set Thursday to unleash an additional series of rules dictating extensive new requirements for mortgage servicing.