SIFIs

WASHINGTON — Lenders are concerned about the performance of syndicated leveraged commercial and industrial loans in 2015, a Fed survey said Monday, underlining regulators' worries that such loans may be a source of systemic risk.

Federal Reserve Gov. Daniel Tarullo says "shadow banking" is another source of systemic concern for bank regulators

New York Community Bancorp wants Washington to raise the asset size for systemically important financial institutions, but in the meanwhile its asset sales to stay under the threshold helped to boost profits and its CEO is pursuing possible M&A deals.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council's proposed changes to its process for designating nonbanks as systemically important are being widely praised as helpful and responsive, but many stakeholders say that they do not go far enough.

A plan to tax the liabilities of systemically important banks could help curb risk to the financial system, but the president and Congress should first consider more realistic asset thresholds.

The focus on raising the $50 billion-asset threshold determining which banks face the toughest provisions is highlighting interest in letting more community banks enjoy exemptions written into the law.

Regulators have come to view macroprudential regulations as the guiding light of financial policy. But whether that strategy is working is open to debate.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council said its process of reviewing large nonbanks should include earlier engagement with companies and more public disclosure, among other changes.

Fifth Third Bancorp and U.S. Bancorp say they will delicately approach expenses in 2015 — or at least until rates rise. They are investing where they must, but pinching where they can, and trying to manage expectations on loan growth.

In a State of the Union address declaring that “the shadow of crisis has passed,” President Obama said he will veto efforts to roll back financial reforms further while he reiterated support for a bill addressing cyber threats.

A Wall Street lobbying group said President Barack Obama's plan to raise $110 billion over the next decade through a new tax on financial companies could stifle economic growth and make banks less likely to lend.

Industry officials insist the Federal Reserve's extension of a key compliance deadline was meant to aid the implementation process, but critics say it could lead to another effort on Capitol Hill to roll back key chunks of the controversial regulation.

Regulators on Thursday posted another round of abridged resolution plans for regional U.S. banks and scores of foreign-owned institutions.

Regardless of the outcome, MetLife's decision to fight the Financial Stability Oversight Council's ruling that the insurer is "systemically important" will have serious implications for the council's ability to rein in nonbanks.

The insurance provider MetLife said it will file a lawsuit Tuesday to challenge its designation as a systemically important financial institution, arguing the Financial Stability Oversight Council erred in making the determination.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Stability Oversight Council voted Thursday to designate Metlife as a systemically important financial institution, the insurance company revealed, making it the fourth nonbank to receive that designation.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council put a careful foot forward Thursday on the path of designating the asset management industry as a potential economic threat.

U.S. lawmakers may follow their European counterparts and regulate bankers' pay if reforms aimed at ending government bailouts for lenders stall, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Vice Chairman Thomas Hoenig said.

U.S. regulators are close to a final decision to label MetLife Inc. systemically important, two people with knowledge of the matter said, setting up a potential legal battle with the country's largest life insurer.

Although regulators say the bank's resolution plan still has "specific shortcomings," Wells Fargo appears closer than other banks in fulfilling the Dodd-Frank requirement.