Victoria Finkle

WASHINGTON — Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, introduced legislation Friday to give the Securities and Exchange Commission the authority to impose and collect user fees from investment advisors.

Freshman Rep. Keith Rothfus has been appointed to the House Financial Services Committee.

The Senate Banking Committee testimony Thursday from Ed DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, who said that the agency's ongoing efforts will be incomplete until Congress lays out a plan to bring the private sector back to the market.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., introduced a bill Wednesday that would establish a tax on the trading of stocks and other financial products.

Democratic lawmakers raised numerous concerns Wednesday over the mortgage servicer settlement announced in January, including how banks are credited for relief they provide to borrowers.

Community bankers sounded more warnings about the Dodd-Frank reform law and proposed Basel III requirements on Tuesday, including how new rules will impact the housing market.

Lawmakers have a busy schedule this week with several hearings on a variety of issues, including the independent foreclosure review and "too big to fail."

Sen. Barbara Boxer asked officials Friday to look into evidence that the big banks are violating the $26 billion national mortgage settlement.

Rep. Maxine Waters moderated a wide-ranging debate on the housing finance system Friday.

Lawmakers grilled the OCC and Fed on Thursday over the failed independent foreclosure review, including their extensive use of independent consultants to carry out much of the work.

President Obama unveiled his long awaited budget plan on Wednesday, offering a more detailed look at the financial health of the Federal Housing Administration and introducing several key banking proposals.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is estimating that the Federal Housing Administration will likely require almost $1 billion in additional funding from the Treasury Department to shore up its capital reserves later this year.

Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., David Vitter, R-La., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, are urging regulators to end "too big to fail" and delay Basel III requirements for small institutions.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., reintroduced legislation Tuesday to break up the largest financial institutions. The bill was light on details, however, and did not spell out how a breakup should be done.

A provision that would raise capital standards at both small and large banks could potentially hamper the legislative effort to break up the biggest institutions.

Concerns about bank size and interconnectedness have reached a fever pitch lately for a number of reasons. Here's why.

Public frustration has been mounting over the lack of high-profile criminal prosecutions in the wake of the financial crisis here in the U.S. But the same cannot be said abroad. Take Iceland, for example.

Everyone knows about the criticism faced by the largest banks in the wake of the crisis. But you may not know what Wall Street has in common with Punxsutawney Phil, the furry groundhog hailed for predictive powers.

The guessing game has already begun over the successor to Sen. Tim Johnson as chairman of the Banking Committee.

Sen. Tim Johnson, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, is expected to announce at a press conference tomorrow that he will retire when his term ends next year.