The Labor Department announced Thursday it was willing to pay $2.5 million to improve fire and building safety standards in Bangladesh garment factories.

The government is preparing to dole out the funds via competitive grants in a U.S. effort to bolster the working conditions of garment workers there, following April's deadly factory collapse outside the capital city of Dhaka, which killed more than 1,200 people.

The Labor Department acknowledged that garment production is a central piece of Bangladesh's economy, but added that there have been "longstanding concerns" about lax enforcement of worker rights and safety standards, which have only heightened following that accident.

Cosmetics manufacturer Revlon broke the law by denying shareholders important information involving its “going private” transaction.

The makeup maker has agreed to pay an $850,000 penalty to settle the accusations, The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Thursday.

A couple of new federal advisory board meetings will be announced in the Federal Register on Friday. Here are the ones that are open to the public:

The National Science Foundation is holding a meeting in Arlington, Va., on June 18 and 19 to discuss an Oregon-based science and technology center. 

New rules on everything from potatoes to nuclear waste are being issued or proposed on Friday in the Federal Register. Here they are:

Potatoes:
The Department of Agriculture is adjusting its rules for potatoes grown in Colorado. 

U.S. regulators are grilling banks over lending standards, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The House approved legislation to limit the authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to implement a key Dodd-Frank provision, according to The Hill’s Floor Action blog.

One member of the CFTC is calling on the commission to approve an extension to give members time to finalize the measure involving cross-border swaps, RegWatch reports.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) are teaming up to help prevent financial exploitation of the elderly, the Journal reports.

More time is needed to complete work on a controversial rule to regulate the international derivatives market, a member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Wednesday. 

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The House voted Wednesday in favor of a bill that would require the Executive Branch to issue a single set of rules relating to derivatives trades between U.S. and non-U.S. entities.

Members passed H.R. 1256, the Swap Jurisdiction Certainty Act, in a 301-124 vote — Democrats split 73-122 in the vote. The bill has both Republican and Democratic cosponsors, but many House Democrats opposed it vigorously during an hour-long debate.

Federal regulators are warning the District of Columbia's taxicab commission that proposed rules on services like Uber that use smartphone applications to pay and hail taxis could be overly restrictive.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) submitted written comments to the D.C. Taxicab Commission on Wednesday, warning that some of its rules could stifle competition and hurt consumers.

"These software applications are an innovative form of competition that may enable consumers to more easily arrange and pay for commercial passenger motor vehicle transportation services, as compared to traditional methods such as street hails or prearrangement by telephone through traditional service dispatchers," the FTC staff wrote.