March 27 (Reuters) – The new Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau said it planned to play an active role in court cases
involving disputes over consumer lending laws.

The agency, which opened its doors in July, is charged with
policing markets for financial products such as credit cards and
mortgages.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. banks may get breathing room on the Volcker rule’s looming crackdown on proprietary trading, after a Federal Reserve official pledged to ease firms into compliance and Representative Barney Frank asked regulators to scrap their original proposal in favor of a simpler approach.

U.S. regulators have said they will likely miss a July deadline to finalize the controversial trading ban that threatens to limit Wall Street’s profit potential.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Banks may get breathing room on the Volcker rule’s looming crackdown on proprietary trading, after a Federal Reserve official pledged to ease firms into compliance and Representative Barney Frank asked regulators to scrap their original proposal in favor of a simpler approach.

U.S. regulators have said they will likely miss a July deadline to finalize the controversial trading ban that threatens to limit Wall Street’s profit potential.

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) – Bank regulators are launching a campaign to sell the markets on the idea that “too big to fail” is dead.

Martin Gruenberg, the acting chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, said the agency will soon be meeting with financial institutions, investor groups, public interest groups and academics.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve will try to make it clearer whether new banking rules apply to small lenders, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in remarks on Wednesday.

Bernanke said the goal is to prevent community banks from wasting time and money trying to figure out if a new regulation applies to them.

By Dave Clarke

(Reuters) – The Federal Reserve will release on Thursday the results of its latest round of stress tests on 19 large U.S. banks, the regulator said on Monday.

The test will gauge the ability of banks to withstand a financial shock that includes unemployment hitting 13 percent and a 21 percent drop in housing prices.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top securities regulator said on Tuesday her agency is exploring whether insurance companies can qualify for a coveted exemption in the proposed Volcker rule that would protect them from having to scale back their investments in hedge funds.

“This is a really important issue, we understand that, and we are reviewing the comment letters carefully,” Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro told lawmakers at a hearing on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) – The top U.S.
securities regulator said on Tuesday her agency is exploring
whether insurance companies can qualify for a coveted exemption
in the proposed Volcker rule that would protect them from having
to scale back their investments in hedge funds.

“This is a really important issue, we understand that, and
we are reviewing the comment letters carefully,” Securities and
Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro told lawmakers at a
hearing on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. regulators are unlikely to have the Volcker rule ready by a July deadline, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday of the proposal to curb financial risk-taking that has met opposition from banks.

The Volcker rule cracks down on banks’ trading with their own funds for profit. Opponents say it is too restrictive and could drive up the cost of borrowing.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. regulators are under immense pressure from foreign officials to rework the Volcker rule trading ban so that it does not restrict trading in their foreign debt, but that’s easier said than done.

Finance officials from the Group of 20 economic powers expressed confidence over the weekend that the United States would rejig the proprietary trading ban so that it does not exempt just U.S. Treasuries.