Policy & Regulation

The Senate Banking Committee is moving forward with a plan to overhaul the housing finance system, but leaders still face a delicate balancing act in swaying some liberal members of the panel to sign on to the bipartisan effort without losing conservative supporters.

Bank of the West said Monday it will continue to offer interest-only mortgages to borrowers even though such loans are excluded from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's qualified mortgage rule that goes into effect Jan. 10.

The Federal Reserve should allow market participants to make their own bets on what the central bank will do and when it will do it.

House leaders are unlikely to take up housing finance reform on the chamber floor this month, according to a new legislative schedule.

The United States is the most successful political, economic, and financial enterprise the globe has ever seen. It has this position because it has always embraced risk.

The second half of December is generally a slow period for news, with many people on vacation and businesses and government closed on holidays. Still, banks made a number of significant announcements this holiday season. In many cases the timing of disclosures may have been driven by circumstance - regulators appeared eager to wrap up settlements by yearend.

Lawmakers are expected to forge ahead on several key initiatives in the New Year, including housing finance reform -- but must move quickly in the early part of 2014 before legislative action grinds to a halt ahead of the mid-term elections in November.

JPMorgan Chase agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh after a judge ordered the JPMorgan to turn over the government's draft complaint at the center of its $13 billion deal with regulators.

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Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank are among the institutions still offering the controversial loan product in the face of tough guidance that took effect in November.