US regulators have handed out billions of dollars in fines since the global financial crisis started in 2007, and there are likely more on the way. The record individual settlement so far is the $16.65bn paid by Bank of America (BoA) in August 2014, relating to charges that it misled investors over purchases of mortgage-backed securities. The settlement concerned mortgages drawn up by mortgage originator Countrywide and sold to investors by financial management firm Merrill Lynch – both of which BoA acquired in 2008.
Apart from direct government involvement in prosecuting banks' financial misdeeds, financial sector regulation in the US involves a large number of regulatory bodies, which have distinct but sometimes overlapping roles. Their enforcement powers, oversight and rule-making responsibilities were expanded with the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, better known as Dodd-Frank. The Banker profiles each of the US's top regulatory bodies, looking at their specific mandates and their recent enforcement record.
