Law and regulation

FHA reform would serve as a major enhancement to the Johnson-Crapo proposal as it could ensure long-term viability of both the MMI and new Mortgage Insurance Fund.

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Jeremy Stein on Thursday submitted his letter of resignation to President Obama.

Charlie Keating, who died Tuesday, epitomized an era today's mortgage lenders would do well to remember as low-yielding portfolio assets tempt them to take bigger risks.

Lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle reached a rare accord Wednesday during a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing, pledging to further investigate allegations of retaliation and discrimination among employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Drew Breakspear spent decades as a banker before becoming the top industry enforcer in Florida. He is empathetic to banks, realizes the growing importance of virtual currencies like Bitcoin and believes more bankers should serve on the Fed's Board of Governors.

Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., introduced legislation on Wednesday to increase fraud protections for debit card customers.

The GSEs are the essence of highly leveraged, systemically important financial institutions, based on their size, interconnectedness and the lack of substitutability

Charles H. Keating, whose leadership of a California savings and loan made him the face of a banking crisis and a millstone around the politicians who tried to help him, has died. He was 90.

An upcoming Senate Banking Committee vote this month could be the tipping point needed for housing finance reform to actually happen — or it could signal yet more stagnation. American Banker editors discuss the political stakes and potential pitfalls as Congress attempts to change how the government supports the mortgage market.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board is scheduled to meet next week to vote on a tougher leverage ratio for the country's eight largest U.S. banks, the agency announced Tuesday.

Rep. Maxine Waters' plan to overhaul the mortgage finance market may be dead-on-arrival in the House, but it is still likely to help determine the fate of a separate Senate bill seen as the leading congressional attempt to enact reform.

HSBC has "much work" to do as part of a $1.9 billion agreement with the Justice Department to avoid prosecution for money laundering, the U.S. said in a status report on the U.K.-based bank's performance.

Eliminating payday lenders would create a void that banks, thrifts, and credit unions cannot or are reluctant to fill. With greater transparency, payday lenders can become a viable partner in the small-cash market.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau needs to improve the efficiency of its program for direct supervision of banks and non-banks, the inspector general at the Federal Reserve, which audits CFPB activities, said.

Tax provision would help distressed homeowners seeking workouts and short sales from being penalized by the IRS.

Former Rep. Barney Frank said regulators are going against congressional intent in their latest risk retention proposal, while former Sen. Chris Dodd acknowledged that their law would need some changes to make it work as envisioned.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has employed unusual practices in its efforts to guide the public's perception of it. They've included funding the trip of a consumer advocate who posed a question from the audience of one of its events and regularly releasing information at midnight to prevent critics from weighing in on the first wave of media coverage.

U.S. agencies trying to ensure the financial system is strong enough to withstand another crisis have settled on one of the last pieces of their regulatory apparatus to limit the size of bank debt, according to two people briefed on the discussions.

Despite efforts to reform the global banking system, the perception that the world's largest financial institutions are "too big to fail" has yet to be eliminated, according to a report issued Monday by the International Monetary Fund.

The Federal Home Loan banks' Office of Finance said members are borrowing more, yet net income for the system fell from the previous year.