Opinions

WASHINGTON — Consumers may see little change in the ultimate cost of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loans despite a restructuring of certain loan fees announced Friday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including thoughts on the sale of GE Capital and how the CFPB's new mortgage disclosure forms will shake up the industry.

Hillary Clinton said Friday she had tapped Gary Gensler, the former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as the chief financial officer of her 2016 presidential campaign, a move that will likely bolster her credibility as a hawk on Wall Street regulation.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and from our social media platforms.

President Obama has tapped the acting head of the Treasury Department’s anti-money laundering and terrorism office to lead the department permanently.

WASHINGTON — Sens. Thomas Carper, D-Del., and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, introduced a bill this week that would establish national data security and notification standards.

FHFA's reduction appears likely to involve loan level price adjustments that the two government-sponsored enterprises charge borrowers and adverse market fees charged on every loan, but not a guarantee fee reduction that the industry has sought.

Despite a strong industry push, a bill to amend the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's "qualified mortgage" rule is facing an uphill battle to enactment this year.

Mortgage lenders are stressed about how the CFPB's new mortgage disclosure rule will impact their business. But the new forms may give them a chance to improve business performance.

First Republic Bank reported higher quarterly profit, though loan growth pushed the San Francisco company above $50 billion in assets.