Eight more states have joined a lawsuit aimed at challenging the constitutionality of parts of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, including the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
In another example of how far we haven't come since the financial crash, U.S. regulators are now warning banks they shouldn't presume regulators will work across borders if a too-big-to-fail institution finds itself about to fail.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is laying out the nation's first rules aimed at ensuring that mortgage borrowers can afford the loans they take out. Among the new regulations are bans on the risky "interest-only" and "no documentation" loans that helped inflate the housing bubble.
Shadow banking. The name alone sounds ominous -- and it should. Operating out of the spotlight of regulation, the shadow banking system could, given the right conditions, leap from its dark, financial hiding place and bring the U.S. economy to its knees, just like it nearly did in 2008.
The election is over, and now, the many investors who were keeping a close eye on the polls know what they're getting (somewhat) in terms of the federal government for the next few years. Here's a look at 21 economic sectors, and what a second Obama term will mean for each of them.
Given the sluggish recovery and a strapped consumer, you'd expect to see corporate America trudging along, not racing for glory. In fact, the Fortune 500 are thriving as a group.
Feel like you're getting gouged at the gas pump amid rising prices? You actually are if you're using a debit card. Despite last year's banking reforms, gas stations have yet to pass along more than $1 billion in debit card transaction fee savings to consumers.
The average fee for overdrafting your bank account rose again last year, but evidently, more Americans are doing a better of job managing their checking accounts, because the amount paid in overdraft fees dropped by $1.5 billion in 2011, after a $4 billion drop in 2010.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is pumping up its budget for 2013, in part because it will start regulating large debt collectors and credit reporting companies, two sectors of that have heretofore had little federal oversight.
Washington's efforts at financial reform keep having strange and unintended consequences. In response to a law that was meant to lower excessive debit card transaction fees on merchants, Visa and Mastercard found a way to raise the fees on a host of small businesses.
Even though last year's financial reform was supposed to make credit cards more transparent, consumers are still complaining about interest rates, billing disputes and confusing credit card terms.
Cheap credit is making a comeback, at least for some people: Credit card companies' fierce competition for new, low-risk customers has them ramping up their 0% interest rate offers again, and offering those teaser rates for longer. So if you have the FICO score to qualify, it's time to take advantage.