Professional development

Federal regulators are working to streamline call reports for community banks in response to industry complaints that some of the requirements are unnecessary and increasingly burdensome.

Regulators' latest guide for examining anti-laundering procedures lacks wholesale changes, but institutions still must decipher minute changes with potentially big impacts.

Bank regulators plan to release their self-assessment tool later this quarter to gauge institutions' cyber readiness, but many see it as sign of more prescriptive measures down the road.

The shift in market composition is fueling concerns that if defaults rise, the Federal Housing Administration would have a harder time making lenders eat the losses on poorly underwritten loans.

Banks have spent a lot of money in order to comply with stress-test requirements. But they will only realize the value on their investments if they integrate stress-test tools and results into their daily decision-making process.

Two activist groups are urging the Fed and OCC to investigate whether OneWest used donations and other sweeteners to buy community support for its sale to CIT.

WASHINGTON — Federal bank regulators made a tool available on Wednesday to help banks calculate capital requirements for securitization exposures.

The Senate Banking Committee's first look at regulatory relief for small institutions provided key insights into how the panel is likely to tackle the topic legislatively this year, suggesting it could be a long and contentious debate.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is trying to send a clearer message to banks about potential red flags by removing low-level recommendations from its exam reports.

While lawmakers are calling for a bill to raise Dodd-Frank's unpopular $50 billion threshold for banks to be considered "systemically important," regulators actually have the power to do it without legislation.

Regulators want banks to police MSBs for illicit activity, but they do not view all such businesses as high-risk, said David Cohen, Treasury's top AML official.

Almost a year after the Volcker Rule was finalized, banks still have questions about which regulators are taking the lead on the rule and how the supervisory and enforcement process will work.

American Banker's inaugural ranking of the banks, large and small, who are earning praise from workers on benefits, opportunities and yes, the fun factor.

• Click here for our full special report with rankings, slideshows, relevant articles and more.

ISOs no longer have to rely on dog-eared Xeroxes of training materials "borrowed" from competitors. Two new online resources have emerged to help sales agents and ISO employees learn to navigate the increasingly complex acquiring industry.

Most ISOs create printed or online training materials for agents by cobbling together sales tips gleaned from other industries and tossing in some rudimentary information on regulatory matters, observers say.

Sales agents who take advantage of industry training to stay current on issues, technology and regulation can safeguard their future in an industry with a shrinking number of employers, observers say.