law-regulation

The repeal of the swaps push-out provision will reduce banks' operational costs, but it makes little difference in terms of increasing the size of the government safety net. The reason: with or without the rule, the government protects the swaps contracts of the largest institutions.

The government conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was never meant to authorize lasting control over the housing sector, according to one of the people who advised Congress on the Housing and Economic Recovery Act.

The latest series of bank settlements over alleged attempts to manipulate the foreign exchange market suggests that lenders need to set about pruning the ranks of problem employees and retraining those who remain.

The blatant mischaracterization of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. communications in a House Oversight Committee report undercuts the aim of the investigation into regulatory scrutiny of bank-payday lending relationships.

The financial system will be safer if accounting standards force banks to incorporate risk into the way they value and report cash and cash equivalents.