Regulation

The city of Richmond, Calif., is pushing forward with its plan to rescue underwater homeowners by buying their mortgages, and is leaving open the possibility of using eminent-domain to acquire loans that banks will not sell.

Ten Federal Housing Administration lenders could be facing hefty penalties from the government following an investigation into their underwriting practices, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development's inspector general.

Some mortgage experts are criticizing a recent rule change by the Federal Housing Administration that would allow borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure or a short sale to qualify for a new mortgage in as little as a year.

Knee-jerk regulations passed in crisis moments can do more harm than good, but all regulation is a static framework applied to an ongoing, dynamic market. The tensions created are inevitable.

Regional lenders including Fifth Third Bancorp and BB&T Corp. are rooting for the Federal Reserve to let interest rates rise, a move that could help their results more than at some of the biggest Wall Street firms.

WASHINGTON — Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are urging the Federal Housing Administration to change an employment eligibility requirement for borrowers looking to modify their mortgages.

The Justice Department has entered talks with federal agencies and banking regulators to clear the way for marijuana dispensaries to obtain banking services, a top U.S. official said.

Rep. Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, said Tuesday that she is preparing to unveil an alternative housing finance reform proposal to rival more conservative legislation backed by many House Republicans.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. resisted big-bank pressure to overhaul a rule, issued Tuesday, that clarified that U.S. bank deposits held in a foreign branch do not receive FDIC insurance, even if they can be withdrawn in the U.S.

The 12 Federal Reserve district banks warned of mounting threats to the U.S. payment system such as fraud, and called for streamlining transactions from the point of payment to the point of receipt.