Law and regulation

The Treasury Department has directed mortgage servicers to notify borrowers 120 days in advance of upcoming increases in monthly payments on loans previously reworked through the Home Affordable Modification Program.

Stanley Fischer, the nominee to become vice chair of the Federal Reserve Board, told senators his three years at Citigroup are not a roadblock but in fact boost his credentials as a regulator.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., urged Banking Committee leaders on Thursday to give panel members ample time to consider their pending bill to overhaul the housing finance market before bringing the legislation to a markup.

Those who wanted to greatly expand the power of government over the financial sector, especially to expand the discretionary power of unelected agencies, took full advantage of the opportunity.

These market-based assessments would be more palatable to the "too big to fail banks" than any bank tax and would allow them to do what they do best -- make loans, writes bank consultant Ken Thomas.

Becoming a licensed money transmitter throughout the U.S. is a time intensive and costly process many Bitcoin businesses are struggling with. But the costs of compliance could be cut substantially with the proactive step of hiring in-house compliance officers.

Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif., introduced legislation Wednesday to curb efforts by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to lower Federal Housing Administration loan limits.

WASHINGTON — Senate Banking Committee leaders are proposing to capitalize a new mortgage cooperative with a government loan to ensure small and even regional lenders can sell their loans for cash.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced several key hires on Wednesday, including a chief economist, financial empowerment director and market liquidity researcher.

Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry signals regulators are considering more Community Reinvestment Act changes as advocates say the progress to date is too timid.

Jefferies will pay $25 million to settle charges that it abetted mortgage-backed-securities fraud.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to address the growing problem of vacant and abandoned properties that banks and mortgage servicers have walked away from to avoid maintaining the homes.

Three nominees to the Federal Reserve Board are set to underscore the growing attention the central bank is paying to financial stability concerns amid its two other mandates of employment and price stability.

Central banks' highly accommodative monetary policies in recent years have heightened the possibility that a geopolitical crisis in the Ukraine and elsewhere could eventually pose a systemic threat, according to a new paper by Federal Financial Analytics.

Regulators should demand more derivatives disclosures in forthcoming living wills. Having banks disclose the risk factors in their risk measurement models would help regulators understand if banks are well capitalized for unexpected losses.

The Senate confirmed Sarah Bloom Raskin as deputy secretary of the Treasury Department on Wednesday.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has lifted a regulatory enforcement action against First Security Group (FSGI) unit FSGBank.

In 30 states and the District of Columbia, attorneys general are urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to adopt new debt collection rules that will "better protect consumers and military service members."

The U.S. Senate's Democratic Banking Committee Chairman, Tim Johnson, and top Republican, Mike Crapo, laid out a preliminary agreement Tuesday that adds to momentum to a bipartisan effort to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. American Banker editors discuss what behind the push's rare appeal on both sides of the aisle and the challenges its backers face in coming weeks.

Sens. Tim Johnson, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Mike Crapo, the top Republican, received an overall warm welcome to their agreement on housing finance reform released Tuesday, after months of negotiation.