PayThink

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have tightened their 'representation and warranty' framework. Other public sector mortgage funders, including FHA, VA, and the USDA should follow suit … or risk being left with lemons.

Higher capital requirements for federal mortgage lenders, more stringent QM and QRM requirements for borrowers and a heightened reliance on private markets will help keep taxpayers from paying for future bailouts.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Director Richard Cordray said Monday that the agency has been in contact with vendors and they should be ready to comply with the qualified-mortgage rule by January.

The Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are expected to release a proposal that would require the biggest U.S. financial institutions to hold long-term debt that could be converted to equity should a bank fail.

It’s almost impossible to disclose the exact amount of third-party fees that will be charged for delivering money when those third parties may include a village council or military authority.

Customers want to bank in the most convenient way for them. Banks don’t need to close their branches necessarily, but they certainly must transform them to address this fundamental shift in behavior.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

Regulators are finalizing the details of a proposal designed to help buffer against a prolonged market crisis by instituting a liquidity requirement for financial institutions. The proposal is expected as early as this summer.

Over the past few years, Wall Street’s collapse has led to a crackdown that’s put many wrongful practices off limits, but it remains a place where a lot of very bad behavior continues to take place out in the open.

As the Fed contemplates ending QE3, banks will need to look beyond government debt and mortgage-backed securities to generate returns.