The banking industry warned federal regulators of the need to retain flexibility in the final regulations and guidelines they adopt under section 312 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act).

The Treasury Department expects to release its blueprint for modernizing the nation’s financial regulatory structure within the first quarter of this year, Undersecretary for Domestic Finance Robert Steel said in a February 7 speech to the New York Society of Securities Analysts.

Maybe we’re in a recession, maybe not. Either way, banks are severely tightening credit standards across the board.

The Federal Reserve Board issued a “Supervision and Regulation Letter” (SR 07-19) on December 13 to clarify the Fed’s expectations regarding confidentiality provisions in agreements between a banking organization and its counterparties — mutual funds, hedge funds, and other trading counterparties — or other third parties.