Regulation

Recent delays by the CFPB and Treasury point toward a systemic policy malaise that threatens to make the housing recovery a decade-long event.

CresCom Bank in South Carolina filed a debt collection lawsuit against Myrtle Beach, S.C. automobile dealer Lavin Sales Inc. and co-owners, John and Howie Lavin, claiming the men and the business defaulted on two loans totaling more than $3.1 million.

As head of the Mortgage Bankers Association, David H. Stevens spent the last year warning that excessive and ill-considered regulation could drag down the mortgage market. As the new head of SunTrust Mortgage, he'll have to face that regulation head-on.

The Treasury Department announced Tuesday that it plans to sell off its shares in seven more community banks as part of its ongoing effort to wind down the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

More than 30 state trade associations have joined the Independent Community Bankers of America in urging Congress to extend the Transaction Account Guarantee program, which offers banks unlimited deposit insurance on transaction accounts.

J.P. Morgan Securities could pay up to $44.6 million for allegedly manipulating municipal bond contracts in a proposed settlement the JPMorgan Chase (JPM) unit reached with municipal bond issuers.

On the same day the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced a board meeting next week to discuss Basel III capital rules, agency officials Tuesday said most community banks are already in solid position to comply with new requirements.

An effort is gaining momentum to require banks that want municipal business to lend more in low-income neighborhoods. And it's not just mega-banks being targeted — smaller banks are seen as fairing worse in this type of lending.

The OCC promoted David Wilson to oversee national banks supervision, even though he's married to a B of A exec. It then quietly reversed itself later, raising new questions about its coziness with the banks it regulates.

Josef Ackermann, who stepped down late last week as CEO of Deutsche Bank, opined late Monday on the fate of Europe, the Euro and how he thinks political leaders should move forward.