Law and regulation

The National Fair Housing Alliance's past discrimination initiatives against the property insurance industry and others suggest that servicers should expect a series of press releases and HUD complaints followed by federal court actions.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau outlined a slew of new rules it plans to propose this summer that the industry said could require expensive systems upgrades for servicers.

Albert Forkner, who had been Wyoming's acting banking commissioner since January, was appointed to the position permanently in late March.

A top Federal Reserve official on Tuesday sought to respond to concerns by the biggest banks over its recent stress test exercise, saying it is willing to make improvements to the process.

Bankers have lost the credibility needed to influence the public and policymakers, M&T Bank CEO Robert Wilmers says.

The Federal Reserve ordered Louis A. DeNaples to step down from the board of First National Community Bancorp (FNCB) of Dunmore, Pa., and submit a plan for selling his controlling stakes in First National and another bank.

A federal judge is siding with the bankruptcy trustee of the failed IndyMac Bancorp Inc. in his dispute with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. over the rights to $55 million in disputed tax refunds.

Ed DeMarco, the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac signaled Tuesday that the Federal Housing Finance Agency is unlikely to pursue a broad principal forgiveness program.

Joseph Smith said in an interview Monday that he wants to avoid surprising the banks as he oversees their compliance with the $25 billion mortgage servicing settlement.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau detailed a slew of new mortgage servicing rules late Monday that it plans to propose this summer, including a call for expanded disclosures for payments and fees and new policies in how banks must handle customer accounts.

A Texas woman who posed as an employee for a debt settlement company has pleaded guilty to five counts of wire fraud for allegedly swindling $13,000 from a Mississippi couple.

Joseph Smith, who is responsible for monitoring compliance with the $25 billion multi-state mortgage settlement talks potential fines, consumer complaints about servicers and how he plans to move forward on hiring help for the massive undertaking.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau outlined its regulatory plans for the next several months, which include at least eight rules including a call for expanded disclosures for payments and fees and new policies in how banks must handle customer accounts.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke called attention to the need to develop more tools to manage risk to the financial system to match the resources of the central bank's monetary policy.

Former Federal Reserve Board official Stephen H. Meyer has joined the Washington D.C. office of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.

Thomas Curry officially took office Monday as the 30th Comptroller of the Currency, the agency announced in a press release.

Goldman Sachs Group [GS] is raising money for a new fund that will buy home-loan bonds and, it hopes, benefit from an improving real-estate market, according to Bloomberg. My initial reaction is: this is insane.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has donated $5.5 million to the University of Colorado Denver Business School to open a center for the study of commodities.

The OCC's approval clears First Niagara to close its deal for 195 branches in New York and Connecticut by May 18, CEO John Koelmel says.

Participants in the Small Business Lending Fund increased small business lending by $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter, a 37% increase from the previous quarter, the Treasury Department said Monday.