Law and regulation

Julian Castro pledged to recapitalize the FHA insurance fund and work with Congress on GSE reform but equivocated when a Senator asked about cities condemning underwater mortgages.

Several federal agencies and 49 state attorneys general struck a $968 million settlement Tuesday with SunTrust Mortgage over charges that it violated laws governing mortgage origination, servicing and foreclosures.

The California Housing Finance Agency is now offering all low- to moderate-income Californians an affordable mortgage loan program that includes down payment assistance and was originally designed for first-time buyers.

When the qualified mortgage rule took effect in January, many predicted the rule would stifle lending to low-income and minority borrowers. But a credit crunch never materialized, thanks to exemptions given to federal mortgage agencies.

Identifying which borrowers are likely to repay short-term, small-dollar loans could help lower costs for both consumers and the financial services industry.

The state of New York's crackdown on illegal online payday loans is being ratcheted up, with Bank of America (BAC) taking unprecedented steps to help state officials ferret out misconduct.

New York officials have created a database of blacklisted lenders, and Bank of America has agreed to use it. Authorities hope that other banks will follow suit.

WASHINGTON — A financial education partnership between public libraries and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has skyrocketed to more than 98 library systems in the two months since the pilot program launched.

Regulators' evaluation of last year's "living wills" submitted by the biggest banks was touted as an important step in ending "too big to fail," but the agencies have failed to provide any feedback on previous plans just weeks before the next set are due.

The widely repeated narrative about AIG ignores or downplays a critical aspect of its downfall—the insurer’s securities lending program run for the benefit of its regulated life insurance subsidiaries.

The Supreme Court told a lower court to take another look at a ruling that let the National Credit Union Administration sue a group of banks for allegedly deceiving investors about mortgage-backed securities.

The city of Richmond, Calif., wants to team up with another municipality to implement its plan to use eminent domain to seize underwater mortgages. There have been no takers to date. The likely reasons are the FHFA and the continuing threat of litigation.

Discover Financial Services agreed with regulators to bolster its payment systems against money launderers. No financial penalty was imposed.

The Delaware bank, which issues cards for a wide swath of the prepaid industry, will have to curtail its growth as part of an agreement with the FDIC.

GreenStar Payment Solutions, a venture of SinglePoint, Advanced Content Services and GreenHouse Payment Solutions, is offering debit card acceptance to legal marijuana dispensaries through the use of cashless ATMs.

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The state of California is seeking a 12-month license suspension for CashCall, a high-cost lender that's come under fire in numerous other states.

The Delaware bank, which issues cards for a wide swath of the prepaid industry, will have to curtail its growth as part of an agreement with the FDIC.

Pushback by the Securities and Exchange Commission is complicating a regulatory effort to investigate whether large asset managers should be labeled "systemically risky."

WASHINGTON — A bank subsidiary should be able to claim tax refunds resulting from the institution's losses even if its tax returns are filed by the holding company, the federal bank regulators said in guidance issued Friday.