Regulation

The Obama administration is pushing to ease access to mortgage credit, particularly for first-time homebuyers, but it doesn't appear likely it will employ one of its most readily available tools.

The student lending industry argues that the problems the CFPB is finding in the market are more related to federal loans than private ones and disagree with the agency's push to allow student loans to be charged off in bankruptcy.

Although Congress may soon tackle whether to raise the $50 billion "systemic" threshold for banks, First Republic CEO James Herbert says the bank must still invest heavily in hiring the necessary staff to help it deal with the additional regulation from such a designation.

Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser says his department is working with the federal banking agencies to ease banks' fears about serving foreign remittance providers.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said he favors size limits for financial institutions to help boost stability.

A regulatory report released this summer helped fuel hopes that banks were finally beginning to loosen up on making mortgage loans. But since then strategists say there is no evidence that an easing of credit standards is taking place.

Banks have never before had to establish policies and procedures at the granular level required under the new Volcker Rule. Doing so in a timely manner will be a challenge for most banks. For some, it will be impossible.

Politicians must acknowledge the unintentionally harmful consequences of the Dodd-Frank Act, while bankers need to accept that the financial system has deficiencies and act to remedy the problems under their control.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is urging policymakers to reconsider how student loan debt is treated under the bankruptcy code.

Demand for commercial real estate and business loans continued to rebound in many regions of the country over the past six weeks, the Federal Reserve Board said Wednesday.