Victoria Finkle

A group of 37 House Democratic women are asking President Obama to name Janet Yellen, vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Fed when his term expires.

Legislation to reform the Federal Housing Administration sailed through the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday, but the bill's future, along with that of broader, comprehensive mortgage reform, remain up in the air as Congress prepares to break for the August recess on Friday.

The Senate Banking Committee approved legislation to reform the Federal Housing Administration on Wednesday to help stabilize the agency's beleaguered reverse mortgages program and strengthen its underwriting standards.

Sen. David Vitter is vowing to push for "tough" reforms to the Federal Housing Administration when the Senate Banking Committee takes up a bill to implement key changes at the agency on Wednesday.

Lawmakers pressed heads of the SEC and CFTC at a hearing on Tuesday about their progress implementing and enforcing new rules under the Dodd-Frank Act.

Richard Whiting, executive director and general counsel of the Financial Services Roundtable, has announced he will step down early next year.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has joined the call to bring back a Depression-era law that separated commercial and investment banking, but enactment of her legislative proposal is highly unlikely.

Carol Galante, the commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration, told lawmakers discussing broad reforms to the housing agency that more targeted action is needed in the short term to repair the FHA's reverse mortgage program.

WASHINGTON — The House Financial Services Committee narrowly approved legislation to overhaul the mortgage finance system Wednesday morning after more than 10 hours of back-and-forth debate on Tuesday.

The House Financial Services Committee was expected to approve a Republican-backed bill to remove government support in a new housing finance system, but senators continue to back a more bipartisan approach that preserves a federal backstop.

Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Mark Warner, D-Va., emphasized the bipartisan compromises the two have made in crafting their proposed overhaul of the mortgage finance system.

The Senate's approval of Richard Cordray's nomination to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau does more than give the agency a permanent director: it also removes Republicans' biggest bargaining chip in their longstanding push to force key structural changes at the agency.

Sen. Mike Crapo, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, is asking the Government Accountability Office to examine the Financial Stability Oversight Council's process for designating systemically important institutions to ensure that it is transparent and fair.

A uniform mortgage-backed-security product, more risk sharing and help for small banks are some of the housing-finance fixes that the Mortgage Bankers Association urges regulators to make now.

Andrew Olmem, a long-time staffer on the Senate Banking Committee, has joined the law firm Venable as a partner.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and her colleagues are working to drum up support for a new bipartisan bill that would bring back a Depression-era law separating commercial and investment banks.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is weighing whether to change Senate filibuster rules if Republicans do not allow a vote on the nominations of Richard Cordray to the CFPB and six other Obama administration appointees.

House Republicans unveiled plans to unwind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that would largely remove the government from the housing market and restructure the FHA.

Senate Banking Committee members pressed banking officials about the significance of new capital standards at a hearing Thursday on the Dodd-Frank Act, including concerns that institutions will work around new rules and remain highly leveraged.

House Republicans grilled the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's acting deputy director Tuesday over how the agency gathers and protects consumer data.