Law and regulation

House lawmakers on Wednesday sharply questioned the speed of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's response to problems with its employee ratings system after discovering that a consulting firm identified disparities based on race, age and gender nearly eight months ago.

New York banking regulator Benjamin Lawsky said Wednesday his office will investigate claims that Ocwen Financial Corp. (OCN) and other servicers require distressed borrowers to sign nondisclosure agreements in order to receive mortgage modifications.

Esther George, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, said Wednesday that community banks are facing headwinds from low interest rates and the cost of complying with the Dodd-Frank Act.

Recently raised regulatory concerns about the massive transfer of mortgage servicing rights from banks to nonbanks are fueling industry hopes that policymakers may be open to addressing the issue.

The Senate confirmed economist Stanley Fischer to the Federal Reserve Board Wednesday afternoon.

Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday bestowed some advice to New York University's 2014 graduating class, telling them to be curious, listen to others and accept that failure is going to happen.

Before the FSOC or other agencies start to impose capital requirements on nonbank financial companies, let's make sure we understand the business models and the risks that these firms actually take.

A task force of state and federal authorities set up in 2012 to probe the mortgage-bond sales that fueled the financial crisis has "more than a dozen ongoing investigations," Michael P. Stephens, the acting inspector general for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said.

If banks and supervisors are serious about achieving regulatory excellence, they need to make the people in charge of product lines take ownership of compliance.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman asked a judge to dismiss American International Group Inc.'s lawsuit against the state's top financial regulator, saying the insurer is trying to interfere with a probe of unlicensed overseas insurance sales.

The Senate voted to end debate Tuesday evening on the nomination of Stanley Fischer to serve as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

The consensus on Twitter is that a $2.6 billion fine for helping wealthy Americans evade taxes is not punishment enough for the Swiss banking giant.

The Justice Department likely hopes that Credit Suisse's guilty plea to a criminal charge will squash the idea that some large institutions are too important to the economy to prosecute. But experts say the issue is more complicated than that, arguing that the debate will live on. Here's why.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is urging companies that use credit scoring models to treat medical debt differently than other debt.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley said the pace of eventual interest rate increases "will probably be relatively slow," depending on the economy's progress and how financial markets react.

Mortgage servicers and troubled homeowners may be losing faith that Congress will pass legislation saving borrowers from paying a tax penalty when they do a short sale.

Banks' have a new worry on the payday lending front besides the government's Operation Choke Point: lawsuits filed by consumers. Eleven financial institutions been hit with private suits that accuse them of helping online payday lenders break the law.

New York regulator Benjamin Lawksy plans to expand an investigation into the affiliated businesses of nonbank servicers and to eliminate several layers of review for mortgage bankers to apply for a license or a new branch location.

Freddie Mac has long struggled to compete with larger rival Fannie Mae because the former's mortgage-backed securities trade at a discount to the latter's. Their new regulator may change that.

Seven years after the onset of the housing crisis, many homeowners continue to face unfair and unnecessary foreclosures. Regulators can help remedy the situation by prioritizing greater transparency in mortgage relief and securing funding for housing counselors and legal advocates.