CONGRESS

Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke, seeking policy solutions to manage financial risks as the nation exits a severe economic crisis, on Friday stressed the critical need for Congress take action to tighten finance laws and give greater powers to the government's financial supervisors.

Big banks took a beating from government on Thursday, both in the U.S. Congress where lawmakers backed tougher industry rules, and from U.S. and UK regulators who moved aggressively to restrain bankers' pay.

Democrats in the U.S. Congress moved on Wednesday to repeal the health insurance industry's exemption from antitrust laws, cranking up the pressure in a growing battle over President Barack Obama's healthcare reform plans.

Mexico's lower house finance committee approved on Tuesday raising value-added tax and high-earner income tax rates as part of a government plan to reduce the country's dependence on waning oil revenues.

Two Bank of America directors have been asked to testify before Congress on the bank's acquisition of Merrill Lynch and ensuing fallout, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

A key U.S. congressional committee approved new rules for the largely unpoliced $450-trillion derivatives market on Thursday in a win for the Obama administration.

Congress will soon probe executive compensation at companies such as American International Group Inc and Bank of America Corp receiving significant taxpayer funds, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform panel said on Wednesday.

The U.S. Congress will soon probe executive compensation at companies such as American International Group Inc and Bank of America Corp receiving significant taxpayer funds, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform panel said on Wednesday.

U.S. President Barack Obama's push for healthcare reform gathered steam on Thursday as a Senate panel scheduled a key vote for next week and Democrats in the House of Representatives moved closer to unveiling a bill.

Companies that use derivatives to hedge their risk are set to make a last-ditch effort on Wednesday to persuade Congress to weaken legislation regulating the opaque $450-trillion private swaps market.

Broker dealers must be held to a higher standard if they provide financial advice to clients, regulators told lawmakers on Tuesday as Congress weighs changes to the U.S. financial regulatory system.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to the United States next month and address both houses of Congress, the government said on Monday

A congressional panel will expand its examination of credit rating agencies to look at why U.S. securities regulators ignored warnings from former Moody's Corp executives about the company's weak compliance department and ratings process.

Bank of America has agreed to turn over more documents to a congressional probe of its purchase of troubled investment bank Merrill Lynch, although some company material remains under wraps for now, a senior lawmaker said on Tuesday.

Bank of America failed to meet a Monday deadline to hand lawmakers further details about its acquisition of Merrill Lynch and faces the possibility of new charges from U.S. securities regulators.

A House of Representatives panel has told Bank of America Corp that it cannot use attorney-client privilege to withhold from Congress details on its purchase of Merrill Lynch, The New York Times reported on Monday.

The National Association of REALTORS® is calling upon its 1.2 million members to urge Congress to extend the successful homebuyer tax credit into next year.

There is little support in Congress for sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives said on Thursday, indicating possible trouble ahead for President Barack Obama.

Senate negotiators made a last stab at a bipartisan healthcare compromise as the U.S. Congress returned to work Tuesday, with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling a government-run insurance option essential to the bill.

Bernard Madoff's whistle-blower and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's top enforcer will testify before Congress this week on how the SEC failed to uncover Madoff's $65 billion fraud, a congressional panel said on Monday.

The Obama administration's ambitious plan to overhaul U.S. financial regulation was bogged down in Congress as it returned from a long recess on Tuesday.