Regulation

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including the financial inequalities exposed by the Baltimore riots and whether the changes to Dodd-Frank proposed in Sen. Richard Shelby's regulatory relief plan go too far.

Nomura Holdings and Royal Bank of Scotland should pay $806 million in damages to government-owned mortgage companies over misleading securities pitches, a federal housing agency told a judge.

The owner of an Ohio-based loan administrator, accused by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of deceptive marketing, says he is the victim of a misguided lawsuit by the agency.

So far, Washington has generally smiled on tech-driven lenders such as Lending Club and OnDeck. But many in the fast-growing industry are now bracing for closer scrutiny.

WASHINGTON — Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke is pushing back against a bipartisan proposal to rein in the agency's emergency lending powers.

The Department of Education issued a proposal Friday that would tighten restrictions on the types of arrangements that colleges can enter into with banks to disburse federally guaranteed loans to students.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency provided more details Friday about key features for the new single security that will be issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Sen. Richard Shelby's attempt to reform Dodd-Frank could ease key bank regulations that improve the safety and soundness of big banks. That would be an immense disservice to the American taxpayers who might bear the cost of the changes with future bailouts.

The multifamily market is heating up as apartment owners and investors refinance in a rush to lock in low interest rates, but caps on government-backed lending programs are threatening to disrupt momentum.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and from our social media platforms.