Certain Republican House lawmakers are questioning the need for a uniform fiduciary standard, adding more fuel to a legislative debate set to take place soon.

Several years ago, Grant Rawdin passed on the chance to become a charter shareholder in National Advisors Trust, a trust company owned by a registered investment adviser and designed to serve advisers nationwide.

Three years after the collapse of Bear Stearns Cos., which helped fuel the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, former bond executives of the firm are running businesses at onetime rivals, including Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The Senate Banking Committee's vote on Mark Calabria's nomination to lead the agency comes amid speculation about congressional and administrative GSE reform plans.

The company will shutter the offices it inherited when it bought EverBank in 2017 and focus on lending to existing customers through digital channels. U.S. Bank will assume the leases on about 25 properties.

The agency's pilot program, designed to streamline mortgage insurance applications associated with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, will now include applications for new construction and substantial rehabilitation.

A clear, cross-agency regulatory framework is needed to help the industry embrace the promise of this new financial services paradigm.

Calls for “reform” in times of high liquidity ignore the scalability of the system, and the need to have it around in times of trouble.

In order to align financial policy with the interests of consumers, the agency should consider why these services have caught on — and remember to keep a lane open for innovation.