Regulation

Thirty-three Senate Democrats said the Obama administration should "quickly and diligently" analyze industry comments to finalize a plan to help turn foreclosures into rental properties.

A key Republican released a new set of reforms designed to encourage the return of the private mortgage market after the eventual elimination of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

A U.S. district court halted a collection operation that allegedly deceived and abused consumers, including making bogus threats that consumers had been sued or could be arrested over debts they often did not owe.

Roughly 400 banks remain in Tarp, and it's not at all clear how they're going to get out, the special inspector general for Tarp said in a new report.

The Volcker rule included in the Dodd-Frank Act was intended to eliminate "proprietary trading" at universal banks. This was largely motivated by the massive losses incurred by the proprietary trading desks of Wall Street investment firms that securitized mortgages. In the rush to mitigate systemic risk in the wake of the subprime lending debacle, banking charters and the Fed's protective umbrella were extended to the remaining investment banks. The thinking was that trading is risky, and hence not appropriate for insured banks, but establishing rules to prevent trading at universal banks was never going to be easy.

I'm hoping William Dudley would consider a meander down the street to Zuccotti Park, with the Fed's consent order against Goldman Sachs in hand. Let the crowd know that the Fed not only shares your pain, but has a few analgesics that might make you feel a bit better.

Ocwen Financial Corp., which this week agreed to buy Morgan Stanley's Saxon Mortgage Services Inc., isn't planning on stopping its shopping spree anytime soon.

Both the chief executive officer and the chairman of the board of Freddie Mac are stepping down within the next few months, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Wednesday.

As hundreds of national banks disappear and community banks increasingly chose a state charter, policymakers must consider the impacts.

The Obama Administration, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Department of Education, unveiled initiatives this week aimed at bringing transparency to the student lending market and making repayment easier for recent college graduates.