Regulation

It proved to be another chaotic day on Capitol Hill Friday as lawmakers continued to battle over a controversial swaps provision in a massive spending bill, while an extension of a key risk insurance program appeared suddenly in doubt.

HUD officials had taken a neutral position on whether FHA financing would be available for loans that were seized by cities and written down to their current appraised value.

WASHINGTON — Congress passed legislation late Thursday that will expand community bank access to the debt markets in order to finance acquisitions.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, a top critic of the country's megabanks, will lead Democrats on the Banking Committee next year.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

The financial system will be safer if accounting standards force banks to incorporate risk into the way they value and report cash and cash equivalents.

On its face, the House vote late Thursday to approve a spending bill that included an unrelated provision written by Citigroup was a big legislative victory for the bank and its fellow Wall Street behemoths. Yet it’s also a victory that comes at a high price.

The House narrowly passed a massive $1.1 trillion spending plan Thursday night, moving the bill to the Senate, where the fight over a Dodd-Frank Act derivatives measure is likely to continue.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt's decision Thursday to stand up the affordable housing trust funds sharply divided lawmakers along party lines, with Democrats welcoming the decision as overdue while Republicans denounced it as a mistake.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took action Thursday against two companies for allegedly running "scams" that promised relief for struggling student loan borrowers.