BankThink

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Another Foreclosure Error: First, the OCC and Federal Reserve oversaw a foreclosure review process that benefited independent consultants more than actual homeowners. Next, the regulators replaced this costly foreclosure review with a settlement that gave only $300 to most affected borrowers. Then some of the checks mailed to borrowers bounced. Now regulators have disclosed that nearly 100,000 borrowers received checks for less than what they were owed, due to a clerical error by Rust Consulting, the firm hired to distribute the payments. (The New York Times article about the error begins: "At least these checks cleared.") Rust has been ordered by the Fed to fix its mistake by sending supplemental checks to affected borrowers. These checks are expected to go out as soon as May 17. Meanwhile, Jon Stewart may want to issue an update to his very recent Daily Show segment (with a cameo from American Banker Editor in Chief Neil Weinberg) on just how bungled this review/settlement has been. Wall Street Journal, Washington Post

According to a paper released by the American Enterprise Institute, the Dodd-Frank Act, which was originally designed to focus solely on the largest financial institutions, will hurt small banks as well.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a complaint Tuesday in New York's federal district court alleging that Mission Settlement Agency of New York and Premier Consultant Group LLC in New Jersey charged more than a thousand consumers millions of dollars in unnecessary, upfront fees.

The House Financial Services Committee passed nine bills on Tuesday with provisions that would make key changes to Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Lending is a holistic business – it requires broad thinking about the impact of credit decisions. A culture of discipline is critical. Banks’ cultures today are overdue for an overhaul.

New reports from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac show the value of a government guarantee on multifamily mortgages.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...More Doubts Around Dimon's Dual Role: Another day, another round of worrisome headlines for JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon. Major proxy firm Glass, Lewis and Co. has come out in favor of a shareholder's proposal that would split Dimon's dual role as CEO and chairman. Scan readers will recall that yesterday, the Journal reported three of JPM's largest shareholders — BlackRock, Vanguard Group and Fidelity Investments — "remain undecided" as to how they will vote and over the weekend, news broke that shareholder advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services supported splitting up the roles. "I write a lot about how snowflakes trigger avalanches," tweeted "Currency Wars" author Jim Rickards. "The dump Jamie Dimon movement [is] starting to look like a blizzard." It remains unclear whether a majority of shareholders will actually vote to take away Dimon's chairman title. According to the Journal, Dimon told investors this week that he wants to keep both jobs, but most of the campaigning, thus far, has been left to other executives and directors. It's also unclear what will happen if the vote doesn't go Dimon's way. "The bank's board of directors does not want an independent chairman, but it seems unlikely they would ignore a majority vote to split the chairman and CEO roles during a time of heightened sensitivity of corporate governance matters and increasing criticism about America's big banks," this Forbes blog notes. There's also been speculation that Dimon might resign if the shareholders do go against him. At the very least, "while not binding, a majority vote to have a separate chairman and chief executive would be a heavy blow to the influential banker," this Dealbook article notes. The vote is set to take place May 21.

An analysis of FDIC data shows the leverage ratio did little to distinguish banks that have failed since 2008 from those that remained healthy.

The case for a national housing finance commission.

The debate to amend provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act is about to become heated as the House Financial Services Committee is scheduled to vote on nine derivatives bills today.