Mike Crapo

Despite a legislative push by some senators and other stakeholders to jump-start housing finance reform, efforts to form consensus over a bill once again are stuck in neutral.

A provision in the Senate’s two-year budget deal would cut the Federal Reserve's operating surplus by $2.5 billion, the second time in recent years that Congress has diverted Fed funds.

Four financial trade associations sent a letter to Senate leaders touting the regulatory relief bill as "example of how our elected leaders can advance necessary solutions by working together and across the aisle."

Analysts believe a bipartisan coalition supporting limited regulatory relief will hold, but the toxic political environment and more looming budget battles to come could obstruct the banking bill's path.

Senate negotiators are working on a bill that would place Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into receivership and replace them with multiple mortgage guarantors, according to sources.

Craig Phillips, a top aide to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, said his department "broadly" agrees with the FHFA plan, which would return Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the private market and provide them an explicit government guarantee.

As senators weigh anti-money-laundering reforms, they reiterated their desire to include cryptocurrencies as part of legislative discussions.

House Republicans are exiting Congress in droves ahead of the 2018 midterm elections and the stakes for the financial services industry could be significant.

House Republicans are exiting Congress in droves ahead of the 2018 midterm elections and the stakes for the financial services industry could be significant.

The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on five bills, three of which are included in the deal negotiated between Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and moderate Democrats.

Examiners focus too much on how many suspicious activity reports banks file and too little on the true riskiness of their activities, according to lawmakers and industry representatives.

The Senate Banking Committee will have two additional members in 2018: Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Doug Jones, D-Ala.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said Tuesday that policymakers need to take a hard look at cryptocurrencies. Senate Banking Chairman Mike Crapo agreed the issue was ripe for a hearing.

The Senate Banking Committee is expected soon to release a bipartisan bill that would significantly reshape the housing finance market, but key issues remain unresolved.

Dueling blockchain stories — one arguing it was virtually useless, the other saying it could change real estate lending — seized the top spots this week, while readers also focused on tax reform aftermath and a key Senate retirement.

The announcement Tuesday by Sen. Orrin Hatch that he will retire at the end of the year could have a ripple effect throughout the Senate, including the leadership of the Banking Committee.

Over the past year, the focus of several banking policymakers has been how much the regulatory pendulum might swing back toward the industry’s liking. That theme will likely continue in 2018.

A regulatory relief package is likely to come out of the Senate in the new year, and lawmakers could follow it up with a housing finance reform push. But the midterm elections could cause some reform initiatives to grind to a halt.

Legislation advanced by the Senate banking panel has a good shot at passage, as long as lawmakers remain focused on helping community banks — not Wall Street.

Until recently, there was a consensus among policymakers that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac needed to be eliminated. That just changed. Here's why.