Capital requirements

FHFA Director Mark Calabria should ensure the government-sponsored enterprises hold at least 4% of total assets as part of housing finance reform.

The pace is torrid now, but it could slow if bank stock prices keep rising and one prominent lawmaker’s proposal to restrict share repurchases gains traction.

Regulators want Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to build up massive amounts of capital before being freed from government control. Don Layton, Freddie's departing chief executive officer says that's easier said than done.

In his first public policy speech as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Mark Calabria stressed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will have to raise significant capital via a public offering and take other steps in order to escape government control.

Erika Marquez discovered an anomaly that was causing Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. to treat some loans as though they required significantly more regulatory capital than they actually did.

The Fed is stepping up transparency around its process for testing bank resiliency in a hypothetical crisis, but additional improvements are needed.

The board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday made several proposals meant to simplify post-crisis rules, prompting opposition from its most recent former chairman.

Mark Calabria has notably criticized the government’s role in housing, but some groups have taken him at his word when he told senators that he supported affordable housing initiatives.

With the National Credit Union Administration board at full strength for the first time in years, here are three areas where the panel can make a big difference for CUs early on.

Policymakers should continue to simplify requirements, so that banks and regulators alike can focus on the most important measures of stability.

Mark Calabria, who could be confirmed as early as this month, is expected to focus on changes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s conservatorships to let the mortgage giants keep more of their profits.

As policymakers consider administrative reforms to Fannie and Freddie, they must address the problem of capital arbitrage to avoid overleveraging the mortgage system.

The top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee is warning that excessive optimism in the banking system could lead to another crisis.

It’s possible the G-SIB surcharge, an additional capital charge on large banks, contributed to market volatility at the end of last year, argues Sen. Thom Tillis.

Bigger banks complained that a two-tier system would force them to rethink their models, while smaller banks raised concerns about adding more complexity to an already burdensome process.

The Milken Institute's plan to address the housing finance system proposes a number of measures that could be carried out by regulators, after years of stalled legislative attempts.

While much of the debate of the past decade has focused on the Dodd-Frank Act, changes to Basel capital standards have played a big role in adding to the regulatory burden.

Readers respond to one fintech startup's tough talk, debate failed plans to change the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's name, weigh reforms to the Community Reinvestment Act and more.

Detractors are suddenly hopeful that the controversial accounting standard could be delayed or altered after FSOC's longer-than-expected closed session on the issue.

The agency’s rate cap for banks that are less than well capitalized contains several flaws and poses problems for community banks.