Mortgages

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has approved New York Community Bancorp's proposed acquisition of Flagstar Bancorp, the companies announced Friday. The banks are extending the deal deadline to Dec. 31 as they continue to seek the green light from the Federal Reserve.

The Fed's interest rate hikes are meant to tame inflation, but the secondary impacts on housing could give the central bank a reason to pump the brakes.

The agency expects one in five borrowers to be eligible for the new pricing benefits.

The mortgage market is reeling from the central bank's strategy of raising rates and reducing its holdings of mortgage-backed securities. Lenders face the worst headwinds in more than a decade.

Credit Suisse Group agreed to pay $495 million to settle the largest remaining case related to its role in selling residential mortgage-backed securities in the U.S. that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis.

Loan officers say that the platform discourages them from originating loans.

The settlement with an insurer over Countrywide's mortgage-backed securities closes another chapter on what quickly proved to be an ill-advised acquisition for Bank of America. A trial on the case had kicked off last month.

The credit scoring firm takes issue with an article questioning changes to its scoring model.

After resolving a longstanding consent order from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and a shareholder lawsuit, Sterling Bank's CEO — an experienced turnaround artist — says the bank is largely done fixing the fallout from its fraud-ridden Advantage Loan program.