Opinions

Getting appointees confirmed by the Senate can be a time-consuming and painstaking process in ideal circumstances, and doing it in an election year amid a scandal is far from ideal. Even so, the White House and Senate Democrats should be motivated to move fast.

Martin Gruenberg's ouster from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. leaves the White House with the difficult task of finding a regulator willing to serve a roughly six month term atop the beleaguered agency.

At an industry conference, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said he was open to suggestions on how to increase choice and competition to benefit mortgage lenders and borrowers.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Michael Barr Monday spoke at length about efforts to enhance banks' liquidity and long-term debt positions after last year's bank failures while saying little about the capital hikes in the embattled interagency Basel III endgame proposal.

Originators misled VA refinance applicants into believing they could skip two months of mortgage payments, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said.

Investors are facing recent pressure after Republic First's collapse, allegations of criminal activity by an executive at Old National and a pending CFPB rule affecting credit card fees.

Earlier in the day, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, called on the White House to name a successor for Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg.

Even the conservative Supreme Court could see through the baseless arguments put forward by opponents of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, assuring that the agency will continue to fight to protect American consumers.

Executives at the Canadian bank, which recently took a major provision for potential fines, say they're working to shore up anti-money laundering controls. At the same time, they're preparing employees and investors for an expensive slog as they work to satisfy U.S. officials.

The agency seeks the public's thoughts on how the regulatory statement governing FHLBanks could better reflect the part they play in housing finance.