Law and regulation

"Servicers now face compensatory fees, not for mistakes or unreasonable delays, but simply as the cost of doing business," Mortgage Bankers Association President David Stevens says.

Steven Antonakes, the CFPB's deputy director, gave a speech which indicated the agency has shifted to a hard-line stance regarding compliance with a new mortgage servicing rule that went into effect last month. "Business as usual has ended in the mortgage servicing industry," he said.

Even legislators can run into trouble with creditors.

As Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) sees it, time has run out on New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s pursuit of Wall Street banks for mortgage fraud that helped trigger the financial crisis.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped Al-Rajhi Bank, the world's largest Shariah-compliant lender, as a correspondent banking client amid a push to improve risk controls, said two people with direct knowledge of the move.

Sens. Tim Johnson and Mike Crapo run the risk of proposing a second-rate solution for the market to gain mass support for their new legislation.

Risk-weighted regulations doom banks to lend too much, on too easy terms, to "infallible" borrowers –some of whom, as a result, will eventually prove to be very risky.

Pressured by overseas governments and institutions, the Fed nevertheless stayed the course in finalizing tough new rules for roughly 100 foreign banks doing business in the U.S. — a sign that the central bank's emphasis remains on national stability over international cooperation.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is suing eight former officers and directors of Habersham Bank over their role in the failure of the Clarkesville, Ga., lender.

First Citizens Banc Corp (FCZA) in Sandusky, Ohio, has exited the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is allowing the public an extra month to weigh in on the agency's strategic plan for unwinding failed behemoths.

The Federal Reserve Board is set to alter its strategy for supervising foreign banks in the U.S., making it somewhat less onerous for smaller global institutions.

Before regulators go any further, they should open a public dialogue to make sure they don't do a lot more harm by eliminating the few lenders that remain.

The Community Home Lenders Association is concerned the high fees will be more of a drag on home purchase volume as interest rates rise.

U.S. households took on debt at a faster clip in the fourth quarter than at any time in seven years, but credit quality measures continued to improve, according to economic reports issued Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and other sources.

Large U.S. banks are facing several potential crises around the world, from emerging markets, within commodities and from China's slowed growth. Consultant Mayra Rodriguez Valladares questions whether changing regulatory standards have made the biggest banks sufficiently capitalized to withstand turmoil from these global problems.

Reforming the multifamily market will lead the way to a future housing finance system where private capital takes first-loss risk and uses ingenuity to responsibly serve all markets at all times.

Home Federal Savings Bank in Rochester, Minn., has been freed from a supervisory agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Nonbank mortgage lenders want to significantly alter a time-tested formula with "membership-lite." Now is not the time to lessen the capital standards for Federal Home Loan Bank membership.

Attorneys involved in Bank of America's $32 million settlement of several class action lawsuits last fall are looking for people to file claims in the case.