Policy & Regulation

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's decision to raise conforming loan limits in 2016 for the first time in a decade is being met with enthusiasm from the mortgage industry, as it should prove to be a positive for future origination volume.

The Pennsylvania company has redoubled its outreach to low- and moderate-income consumers by partnering with Operation Hope on a down payment assistance program and naming a veteran banker to the newly created post of director of fair and responsible banking. But despite these efforts, history says Fulton is unlikely to escape punishment if the Justice Department finds that it violated fair-lending laws.

The U.S. is expected to receive bad marks over its supervision of certain high-risk nonfinancial institutions, like lawyers, casinos and real estate agents, for potential anti-money-laundering problems in an upcoming evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force.

The Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank was already under pressure to replace outgoing president Dennis Lockhart with a person of color – preferably the first African-American to head a Fed bank. But the election of Donald Trump has compounded the importance of the pick.

Hopes are high among bankers that soon-to-be President Donald Trump and the new Congress will quickly lower the corporate tax rate. But a tax overhaul might benefit community banks and small regionals more than larger banks, especially those reliant on tax strategies that might be less meaningful in a new system.

Threats to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's future became more real with Donald Trump's victory, but all the outrage over the bureau's policies is overblown.

The GOP victories boosted expectations of federal regulatory action easing up, but such a scenario would likely create a void of power for certain state agencies to fill.

Former BB&T Chief Executive John Allison is a late entrant on a short-list for the job of U.S. Treasury secretary, according to two people familiar with President-elect Donald Trump's selection process.

The transition team for President-elect Donald Trump announced a series of names this week for people who will help facilitate an orderly transfer of power at the federal financial regulators.

The transition team for President-elect Donald Trump announced a series of names this week for people who will help facilitate an orderly transfer of power at the federal financial regulators.