Bank regulation in the United States
Some individual cities also enact their own financial regulation laws (for example, defining what constitutes usurious lending).
§550.136(c) lists six types of state laws that, in certain specified circumstances, are not preempted with respect to federal savings associations.
[2] Specifically, the act requires financial institutions to keep records of cash purchases of negotiable instruments, file reports of cash transactions exceeding $10,000 (daily aggregate amount), and to report suspicious activity that might signify money laundering, tax evasion or other criminal activities.
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions apply to all U.S. entities including banks.
The United States was the second country (after Czechoslovakia)[9] to officially enact deposit insurance to protect depositors from losses by insolvent banks.
In the 1980s, during the savings and loan crisis, the FSLIC became insolvent and was abolished; its responsibility was transferred to the FDIC.
On passing the law in 1991, Congress noted it would help promote economic stability, competition between depository institutions, and allow the consumer to make informed decisions.
The Expedited Funds Availability Act (EFAA) of 1987, implemented by Regulation CC, defines when standard holds and exception holds can be placed on checks deposited to checking accounts, and the maximum length of time the money can be held.
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) of 1974, implemented by Regulation B, requires creditors which regularly extend credit to customers—including banks, retailers, finance companies, and bank-card companies—to evaluate candidates on creditworthiness alone, rather than other factors such as race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.
The Truth in Lending Act (TILA) of 1968, implemented by Regulation Z, promotes the informed use of consumer credit by standardizing the disclosure of interest rates and other costs associated with borrowing.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) of 1970 regulates the collection, sharing, and use of customer-credit information.
Provisions addressing credit-card practices aim to enhance protections for consumers who use credit cards and improve credit-card disclosure under the Truth in Lending Act: Lending-limit regulations restrict the total amount of loans and credits that a bank may extend to a single borrower.
The term "insiders" includes executive officers, directors, principal shareholders and the related interests of such parties.
The Federal Reserve Board indicated its hope that the 2003 amendments would make discount window lending a more attractive funding option to banks.
In January 2018, a spokesperson for the Federal Reserve Board chief of supervision said that existing banking sector regulations were too tough and standardized, and could be relaxed and customized in order to promote commercial bank lending, investment, and stock market trading.
[citation needed] Randal Quarles, the Vice Chairman for Bank Supervision, said he was planning several imminent changes that Wall Street has wanted involving capital rules, proprietary trading and a process known as “living wills” that aims to prevent taxpayer bailouts.
