Opinions

To allow members of the House Financial Services Committee to attend hearings, don't be surprised if the panel starts announcing meetings in Iowa and New Hampshire.

There is not an official scorebook to rank the financial regulatory agencies for their progress implementing the Dodd-Frank Act. But they do keep score on the softball field.

Mutual funds that invest in leveraged loans may be pulling in less new money, but banks themselves have been picking up the slack in lending, putting them in competition with institutional investors and contributing to the general froth in the market.

WASHINGTON — Two House members announced a bill Friday that would prolong the temporary increase in the size of home loans backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration.

WASHINGTON — With the one-year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act approaching, House Republicans gave the financial-reform law a failing grade in a press conference Friday, saying that it has increased the size of government, hurt the economy and not solved the "Too Big to Fail" problem.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau likely will focus on the mortgage industry when it officially opens its doors July 21, some observers believe. And while the agency has made it known it will examine the prepaid card market, its specific intentions remains unclear.

Looking at the big picture items, it is clear there have been significant strides in some areas, while others have stalled or been ignored entirely.

Secretary of the Treasury Geithner's failed advice to the President Obama on how to solve the foreclosure crisis has apparently caused the president to reconsider prevention options.

Richard Berner, a counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, told members of a House Financial Services subcommittee that the new Office of Financial Research is "working diligently to satisfy its statutory mandates and mission."

Warren, now leading the formation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said while the new regulator reserves the right to halt marketing of financial services that are not consumer-friendly, there is no need for such a prohibition from the outset.