Opinions

A coalition of 23 banking industry trade groups urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday to adopt a safe harbor protection from lawsuits for lenders that originate qualified mortgages when the bureau issues a final rule this year.

Unlike Treasury's much-derided Tarp program, the FDIC's crisis-era guarantee of unsecured debt had a stabilizing effect and could serve as a model for future crises.

The regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac says it needs more time to draw a final conclusion on whether to pursue principal reductions.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke went on the defensive this week, rejecting criticisms from Paul Krugman that he had been "assimilated by the Fed Borg" and his views were inconsistent with his previous work as an academic.

Jesse Villarreal Jr., one of the top officials who served at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. during Sheila Bair's term as chairman, has joined Banco Santander as the head of its U.S. government relations team.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has hired Denise Dunckel as a senior associate director for the office of congressional affairs and communications.

Growing up in Anaheim, Calif., Raj Date's early working days were decidedly more glamorous. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's No. 2 revealed last week that he got his first paying job at Disneyland.

Re "Carving Up Big Banks Won't Work, Any Way You Slice It":

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has extended the comment period until June 29 for its public inquiry into overdraft practices.

The FDIC's crisis-era guarantee of unsecured debt had a stabilizing effect, and unlike Treasury's capital infusions in banks the so-called TLGP skirted a lot of the bad publicity associated with the bailout. With its end approaching, some see the debt guarantee as a model for future crises.