The Federal Reserve said that it expects to collect $440 million in fees from 70 big banks and other financial firms to help cover the costs of supervising them, The Associated Press reported Friday. The Fed provided the estimate in its announcement that it had completed a rule providing for the annual fees. The fees are intended to help defray the costs of expanded regulation, which the Fed gained under the 2010 financial overhaul law. The payments for 2012 are due by Dec. 15, and they apply to the largest banks with operations in the U.S. and nonbank financial firms that have been deemed as potentially threatening the stability of the financial system. Regulators last month classified American International Group and GE Capital as falling into that category.
