Cheyenne Hopkins

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced Friday that it is revamping its foreclosure prevention plan to encourage lenders to offer principal write downs to troubled borrowers.

WASHINGTON — Responding to lawmaker arguments that an Obama administration program to prevent foreclosures is a failure, a top Treasury Department official announced small changes to it and said a broader overhaul would come soon.

Chapter 13 filings' share of bankruptcies drops as job losses leave debtors unable to work out payment plans; and more.

The Treasury Department announced Tuesday that it has purchased $21.4 million in small-business securities.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations postponed its hearing examining the causes of the financial crisis, specifically focusing on the failure of Washington Mutual.

The Treasury Department extended its review of executive compensation practices on Tuesday beyond those that received "exceptional" assistance to all recipients of rescue capital.

WASHINGTON — Acknowledging that regulatory guidance to limit banks' concentration in commercial real estate has failed, Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan said Friday that the banking agencies will issue new, tougher standards.

The House will vote within days on a bill to end private lenders' role in government-guaranteed student lending.

The Senate bill would explicitly return to the so-called "Barnett" standard that existed before the preemption rules issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in 2004. But the bill also contains language that OCC officials warned would make preemption more complex and burdensome.

Wachovia is expected to be fined $100 million to $200 million this week over its failure to detect suspicious activity on certain Mexican money transfer business accounts.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd's regulatory reform bill would overhaul the way financial companies are overseen and how troubled companies are unwound. But the 1,300-plus page bill contains many other provisions, including these ...

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd on Monday released a broad outline of his regulatory reform bill, which heavily reflects input from Republicans who still say they oppose the bill.

Janet Yellen, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, is the lead candidate for vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs confirmed Friday.

Banks had made 170,207 permanent modifications as of the end of last month under the administration's foreclosure prevention program, the Treasury Department said Friday.

Robert P. Kelly, Bank of New York Mellon Corp.'s chairman and chief executive, said the government should end its ownership of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and called for increased resolution authority to dismantle large banks.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Wednesday defended the administration's decision not to outline a plan for the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac until 2011, saying it was focused on other issues.

After years out of the spotlight due to the financial crisis, anti-money-laundering issues returned to Capitol Hill on Wednesday as lawmakers raised renewed concerns about the supervision of money-services businesses.

Bank regulators issued 1,143 formal enforcement actions against banks and their holding companies last year, a new record and more than double the 2008 tally.

House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank urged four of the nation's top banks to adopt principal writedowns on second-lien mortgages to allow borrowers to keep their homes.

Vikram Pandit, Citigroup's CEO, testified before the Congressional Oversight Panel that the company has reduced its risk and improved its economic condition. But panelists were not convinced.