Law and regulation

Brokers of servicing rights say the overall market remains robust, despite suggestions by Ocwen's William Erbey last week that trades had ground to a halt. Trading of seriously delinquent portfolios has slowed on concerns about increased liability.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren's new book details the Massachusetts lawmaker's dramatic rise from humble Oklahoma roots to bookish Harvard law professor to liberal juggernaut, and includes some behind-the-scenes insights to the formation of the CFPB and its agenda.

An appeals court in California has ruled the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. must wait in line with everyone else for a share of tax refunds awarded to IndyMac Bank's parent company.

The place to debate whether payday lending or any other business should be allowed to operate and have access to the banking system is in the halls of Congress and state legislatures, not in the backrooms of government bureaucracies, Bill Isaac writes.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to change how fees are defined for a key test to determine if a loan is a "qualified mortgage," according to observers.

A mediocre solution as unappetizing as that may be, in the long run, it is preferable to no solution at all in the secondary mortgage market.

In order for bank CEOs to be included on any "great leaders" list, trust with customers, employees and shareholders must be strong.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is raising concerns about a caveat in private student loan contracts that allows lenders to automatically put a borrower in default when a co-signer faces certain kinds of hardship.

A powerful group of shareholders is amplifying attacks on housing finance reform legislation as they await resolution of a major legal battle, attempting to slow momentum on the bill before it likely passes the Senate Banking Committee.

Fannie and Freddie are huge in size, huge in global systemic risk, close to zero in capital, and of fully demonstrated "too big to fail" status. What is stopping the Financial Stability Oversight Council from designating them as systemically important?

Govern Google, regulate nationally, build on that baseline, evidence externalities and reduce demand in order to transform payday from a great divider into a great unifier.

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A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

Two officials of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who played important roles in shaping the new mortgage rules have joined Wells Fargo.

Zions Bancorporation, which failed the Federal Reserve's annual stress test, deferred giving Chief Executive Officer Harris Simmons a cash bonus until after the bank learns the results of its resubmission.

The American Bankers Association recommended several fixes to a bill to overhaul the mortgage finance market pending in the Senate Banking Committee.

In the old days the Fed's monetary policy and bank supervision were separate sides of the house. But its postcrisis capital rules for banks are blurring those boundaries.

The Federal Reserve prohibited a former Missouri bank chairman from involvement in any bank management after he admitted to using federal bailout money to buy a luxury condominium.

Former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair took private investors to task this week, arguing that their failure to understand and manage mortgage-market risk helped bring about the financial crisis.

Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) isn't giving up on the small-dollar loan market, Chief Executive Kevin Kabat said Thursday.