Receiving Wide Coverage ...
Yellen Sees Risks in Housing: Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen told Congress' Joint Economic Committee on Wednesday that housing is not keeping pace with the economic recovery. The Journal notes Yellen was "expressing an uncertainty about housing she hadn't stated before." The Financial Times connects the dots further, reporting that Yellen's testimony marks her first public comments since last week's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, when the Fed slowed its asset purchases by another $10 billion a month (to $45 billion), notably constricting the flow of funds to housing. The New York Times notes that Yellen would not be pinned down on a timetable for raising interest rates. The Washington Post identifies four key take-aways.
Bank of America's Miscalculation: B of A's CEO Brian Moynihan gave no details about how the Charlotte, N.C., bank discovered a $4 billion "miscalculation" last month, which will delay its plans to pay dividends to investors. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times
Wall Street Journal
The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of the Inspector General are investigating U.S. Bancorp's compliance with requirements for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, the bank disclosed in a regulatory filing.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman reached settlements with two large debt-buyers that collected more than $16 million in judgments from New York borrowers even though the statute of limitations on the claims had expired. Portfolio Recovery Associates and Sherman Financial Group will pay civil fines of $300,000 and $175,000, respectively, and stop further lawsuits.
Financial Times
Regulators on the Financial Stability Oversight Council are monitoring nonbank financial firmsincluding mortgage-servicing companies, insurers and asset managerssaying they pose an emerging threat to the financial system. Of course, the shift to nonbanks was largely driven by regulators themselves, who raised capital, compliance and litigation costs for banks servicing loans, the paper reports.
Elsewhere ...
The Street: Fannie Mae has quietly acknowledged up to $4 billion in errors in its financial statements from 2011 and 2012 that had largely gone unnoticed, but could constitute "control deficiencies."
