Regulation

The GSE regulator's second attempt to stimulate the mortgage market is receiving a lukewarm reception from lenders, who remain gun-shy after being forced by Fannie and Freddie to repurchase billions of dollars in soured loans since 2008.

The SEC's mammoth whistleblower bounty offers a reminder that financial institutions should emphasize a culture of compliance and transparency, lest frustrated employees head to the government to find an audience that will listen.

Regulators see reviving a 2011 proposal addressing incentives in bank pay as a way to deal with cultural problems at banks and bad behavior by their employees.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro challenged lenders to make more mortgages, saying the credit pendulum has swung too far on the side of caution.

Concerns still remain among community bankers that examiners could push individual community banks to undergo stress tests, even if the agencies refuse to make it mandatory.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule Monday that will allow institutions that limit the amount of customer data they share to post annual privacy notices online rather than by paper delivery.

Digital currency startups are trying to reframe the debate surrounding customer privacy, anti-money-laundering compliance and data security by backing a new set of guidelines for managing consumers' online identities.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is close to issuing refinements to the government-sponsored enterprises' representation and warranty framework that will limit lender liability on buybacks of legacy loans.

WASHINGTON — Two key Democrats are asking the Government Accountability Office to investigate the financial stability of nonbank mortgage servicers and potential harms to borrowers.

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Daniel Tarullo issued a stark warning to bankers Monday to improve their culture and ensure employees are not behaving badly before regulators are forced to do it for them.