General

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has adopted a final rule requiring banks to report interest paid to customers who are not residents of the U.S., effective January 1, 2013. The change effectively extends a requirement that had applied only to Ca

Responding to the growing level of student debt, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) has proposed a remedy: the Fairness for Struggling Students Act. The author of the Durbin Amendment, which cost banks huge amounts in reduced interchange fees, is now pr

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a final report March 26 setting forth best practices for businesses to protect the privacy of American consumers and give them greater control over the collection and use of their personal data. The report

Community bankers have done their fair share of complaining about over regulation and supervisory micromanagement (with good reason, we might add). But at the Independent Community Bankers of America’s (ICBA’s) recent national conference in Na

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) kicked off its annual convention by announcing its top legislative and regulatory priorities for the coming year.

“Our nation’s more than 7,000 community banks continue to be prolific

Two times nothing is still nothing. President Barack Obama’s budget for fiscal year 2013 includes a proposed tax on big banks that would supposedly collect twice as much as the similar bank tax he proposed one year ago. But that earlier tax was

The Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF), which almost everyone has maligned for being ineffective, actually is doing pretty well. At least that’s the claim made by the Treasury Department it its quarterly report to Congress on SBLF activities. Es

President Barack Obama has announced two changes in the student loan program. Both changes are designed to reduce the load borne by student borrowers and provide at least a modest boost to the overall economy. The new policies follow the disclosur

It’s a difficult time to be a member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). At a time when economic conditions would seem to require action, ideological bickering paralyzes the political branches of government. The FOMC may be the only ent

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.) has called on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to release a Fed report on bank compensation structures. Doggett also wants to know what, if anything, the Fed has done to rein in “excessive bonus and incentive programs at our

Revisiting an issue he has discussed before, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has called for “democratizing” the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). The senior minority member on the House Financial Services Committee is concerned that the body t

“The cumulative impact of regulatory reforms now underway in the financial services industry is adding to the headwinds that the global economy faces at a time when economic growth — notably in the United States, Japan and in Western Europe �

Ocean Bank found out the hard way that banks can’t ignore Bank Secrecy Act red flags. On August 22, the FDIC, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and the State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) assessed concurrent civil

Financial markets reacted with confusion to the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC’s) August 9 policy statement. After dropping precipitously immediately after the statement was circulated, stocks rallied toward the end of the session. Fina

Dear Reader:

Watch out for those operational risks. The OCC sees bank operational risks as a top safety and soundness supervisory priority. And it’s not just a big bank problem. This week’s Letter also takes

The White House said it was ending the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) but actually extended it. Treasury Secretary Geithner promised that the extension actually would be the first step in bringing the program to a close.

The “fair value” accounting dispute continues.

The fact that TARP is now on path to be shut down didn’t stop the House from approving legislation requiring more transparency in future TARP actions.

The Oversight Panel that Congress created specifically to criticize TARP had little trouble fulfilling its function in its latest report.

Beyond our usual Washington beat (in Pittsburgh, to be exact), the G20 organization sounded off on how your bank should handle executive compensation issues.