GSE reform

Despite a legislative push by some senators and other stakeholders to jump-start housing finance reform, efforts to form consensus over a bill once again are stuck in neutral.

As conservator, FHFA Director Mel Watt has substantial leeway to remake the government-sponsored enterprises without congressional input. Here's one way he might do so.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Financial Stability Oversight Council will propose SIFI criteria before executing changes, and provided comments about the Volcker Rule, Orderly Liquidation Authority and housing finance.

Housing finance reformers are pushing full steam ahead to get a bill introduced before the political calendar makes passage nearly impossible.

The busy legislative agenda laid out by President Trump in the State of the Union speech Tuesday night casts doubt on how quickly Congress can move on financial services legislation, particularly a housing finance reform package.

The government must continue to provide support for the mortgage market in any new housing finance system, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday.

The Community Home Lenders Association sent a letter to the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday laying out its priorities for GSE reform.

Supporters of an unreleased bill to revamp the housing finance system say the plan strikes a middle ground that can gain support from both sides of the aisle.

An exclusive look at the Senate's tightly held housing finance plan drew the most interest from readers this week, while TD's foray into AI and the roller coaster at CFPB also dominated attention.

The Seante looks to forge its own path on GSE reform, breaking to the right of a plan from the FHFA; a new candidate to lead the CFPB emerges as its current director tells the Fed, "Thanks, we're good on funding."

Senate negotiators are working on a bill that would place Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into receivership and replace them with multiple mortgage guarantors, according to sources.

Craig Phillips, a top aide to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, said his department "broadly" agrees with the FHFA plan, which would return Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the private market and provide them an explicit government guarantee.

FHFA Director Mel Watt said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be reincorporated as private entities and the government must provide an explicit guarantee for catastrophic losses in the secondary mortgage market.

Cryptocurrencies continue to dominate much of the news, with a warning on bitcoin taking the top spot and a story about Ripple's partnership with MoneyGram doing well. Housing finance reform, Wells Fargo and the CFPB also featured.

Readers react to the Federal Housing Finance Agency considering changing its credit scoring policy, slam the possibility of enforcing mandatory penalties for data breaches at credit reporting agencies, weigh the possible nomination of a credit union regulator to the CFPB, and more.

Housing finance reform proposals could make it challenging for community banks and credit unions to serve rural mortgage markets, according to a report issued Wednesday by Brookings and the Center for Responsible Lending.

The Senate Banking Committee is expected soon to release a bipartisan bill that would significantly reshape the housing finance market, but key issues remain unresolved.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., has emerged as one of the most outspoken members of Congress when it comes to fintech, both embracing its potential and calling for regulatory guardrails.

The announcement Tuesday by Sen. Orrin Hatch that he will retire at the end of the year could have a ripple effect throughout the Senate, including the leadership of the Banking Committee.

Over the past year, the focus of several banking policymakers has been how much the regulatory pendulum might swing back toward the industry’s liking. That theme will likely continue in 2018.