Economy

Mel Watt, the former North Carolina lawmaker, has earned praise for his cautious approach to guiding the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But critics say he is making it even more difficult to craft a system without them.

Innovation is not a competition. If both incumbents and startups in the fintech market would just accept that, mobile wallets and broader payments applications would have already been realized, according to Jonathan Vaux, executive director of Visa Europe.

The Securities and Exchange Commission just gave unregistered banks a way to quickly raise capital at a fortuitous time — and marketplace lending platforms a way to reclaim their peer-to-peer roots.

The new digital currency entrepreneurs are stripping the bitcoins from Bitcoin, building new iterations of the underlying blockchain technology without clinging to any digital currency token.

After releasing successive studies on the payday industry over the past two years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is finally set to unveil Thursday sweeping proposals that could fundamentally change the business of short-term loans and other products

Senate Democrats have now joined the fight over the Financial Stability Oversight Council's designation process, calling for "systemically important" firms to be able to shed the label.

The Justice Department's Clifford White is putting all mortgage servicers on notice that they too will be punished if they flout bankruptcy rules.

Google's planned integration of bill pay and presentment with its immensely popular Gmail service could quickly scoop away one of the stickiest offerings of online banking sites.

The leader of the Senate Banking Committee said he'd rather leave Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in U.S. conservatorship than pass a bill that includes explicit government support for the housing market.

Lendio, an online lending marketplace for small business, raised $20.5 million of equity capital in a recently completed funding round.

Deron Smithy, executive vice president and treasurer of Regions Financial, said compliance costs across the 20 regional banks that are above the target have jumped by $2 billion, with his bank alone spending roughly $200 million.

If you thought the subprime mortgage-backed security was an artifact of the past, think again. Nomura Holdings and Angel Oak Capital have a deal that may help revive the part of the market that went bust during the crisis. Their success could encourage more banks to dip their toes back into riskier mortgages.

Bank regulators rejected three foreign banking organizations' resolution plans — so-called "living wills" — that were submitted last year, finding "shortcomings" and ordering the institutions to make certain improvements when they resubmit their plans this year.

Ocwen Financial is fighting back against a group of large bondholders that have accused the Atlanta mortgage servicer of improper servicing practices and an alleged breach of trust.

The mobile wallet market takes no prisoners. Startups and big companies have an even playing field, and many have already scrapped one or more products — while others have given up the fight entirely.

A new report from the Office of Financial Research says that current stock valuations show some signs of an asset bubble that could put the financial system at risk if — or when — it bursts.

Bank of New York Mellon is building out a new investment firm with the mortgage specialist Amherst Holdings. The move is its second major commitment to a fixed income-related fund this year.

Regulators pressed for more flexibility when it comes to stress tests, among other things, as lawmakers consider changes to the Dodd-Frank Act.

If successful, Provident Bank in Massachusetts and Cincinnati Federal in Ohio would become the first new mutual holding companies since 2011, giving some hope that the structure could make a comeback.