Policy & Regulation

Lots of ink has been spilled over financial events in Europe, but the essential issues are much more straightforward than they've been portrayed.

Even with the housing market stabilizing and a settlement between megaservicers and state AGs on the horizon, the mortgage industry shouldn't expect an increase in originations next year, according to a new forecast from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Just seven months ago, Democrats appeared to be boxed in, unable to confirm a leader to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau without agreeing to demands from Senate Republicans to overhaul the agency's structure.

Sheila Bair, the former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chairman, is a leading candidate among state officials to ensure banks comply with any settlement of a nationwide foreclosure probe, a person familiar with the matter said.

Participants at a Treasury Department panel on insurance regulation Friday offered divergent opinions about the role the new Federal Insurance Office should play.

The consumer agency officially opened its ombudsman’s office on Friday.

New polls find that bankers may at least be more liked than lawmakers.

It costs a bank $349 a year on average to maintain a checking account. As banks decide whether or not to add fees to their free checking offerings, they must evaluate their costs carefully.

Republic Bancorp in Louisville, Ky., announced on Friday that it would soon stop making refund-anticipation loans as part of a settlement with the FDIC. Now it needs to find revenue to replace the $24.5 million the business has made this year.

The Dodd-Frank Act created the Office of Financial Research in an effort to collect data that would help regulators detect and head off systemic risk. But policymakers face a host of challenges in fulfilling the agency's mission.