Law and regulation

JPMorgan Chase's proposed terms for settling state and federal probes of mortgage-bond sales were rejected by the Department of Justice this week, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.

Many financial institutions are inadvertently slipping into noncompliance with anti-money laundering rules even as regulators turn up the heat, according to a white paper released Tuesday by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

A report released Tuesday says that Treasury and the states are not moving quickly to help unemployed homeowners make their mortgage payments.

The Small Business Administration is temporarily waiving fees on loans of $150,000 or less, and community bankers say it will encourage lenders and borrowers to pursue loans that they had shied away from in recent years.

The Federal Housing Administration has reached a "tipping point" in its mission of providing low-cost protection for homebuyers while trying to keep its insurance fund liquid, Commissioner Carol Galante said today.

The Treasury Department's Michael Stegman further bolstered the Obama administration's support of Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency on Tuesday, describing how the agency's policies must intersect with mortgage finance reform efforts in Congress.

At the annual Mortgage Bankers Association conference in Washington, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray said lenders' concerns about meeting the new mortgage rules are warranted, but they should not worry over legal protections in complying with the regulations.

President Obama plans to nominate Jerome Powell, a former partner at Carlyle Group, to serve another term on the Federal Reserve Board, according to a government official briefed on the matter.

Bank of America may have to pay $5 billion to $8 billion to settle federal claims tied to faulty mortgages after a rival lender's deal set "a relatively high bar," Fitch Ratings said.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren weighed in publicly for the first time on the substance of the housing finance reform debate on Tuesday, endorsing a limited but explicit government guarantee, strong underwriting rules and servicer oversight, and secondary market access for smaller institutions.

A draft plan by U.S. regulators to significantly increase a leverage requirement for top U.S. financial institutions is at odds with a separate proposal to force banks to hold highly liquid assets to buffer against market crises, according to senior bank executives.

Lax oversight by the Treasury Department has helped to prevent billions of dollars in aid from reaching struggling homeowners, according to a report released Tuesday by the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

PayPal, having long ago charted the state-by-state regulatory waters for U.S. payments companies, is urging a reform to the rules in an effort that could ultimately help other players in its market.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has started the process to end debate on Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., President Obama's nominee to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Sendhil Mullainathan says he had no involvement in the consumer bureau's decision to award a consulting contract to a firm he co-founded.

Sendhil Mullainathan, the former head of research at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, speaks in an interview about when it's appropriate, and when it's not, for the government to try to influence consumer behavior.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new remittance rule has caused lenders to argue for months, wondering if the rule would cause rates of international wire transfers to increase.

A Federal Reserve study has added new urgency to mortgage lenders' search for a way to navigate between the qualified mortgage rule and fair lending statutes. American Banker staffers discuss.

CFPB Director Richard Cordray said Tuesday that some lenders' concerns about meeting the deadline for new mortgage rules are warranted but not their fears over legal protections in complying with the regulations.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took action against 10 banks in September and released 13 from enforcement actions.