Politics

The passage of a Congressional Review Act resolution to rescind the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's small-business data collection rule may be only symbolic, but the rule is designed to detect and stop discrimination — something everyone should support.

The number of government-backed home loans transferred from one borrower to another is up significantly this year as prospective buyers look for ways to avoid elevated interest rates. Some say this is the beginning of a larger movement, but others say regulatory hurdles will get in the way.

Rep. Maxine Waters pressed executives from City National Bank, PNC Financial Services and Wells Fargo on opening branches in her California district and upholding promises made from recent merger agreements or consent orders.

The lobbyist for the Home Loan Bank System has asked the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to confirm that the private consortium can continue to be a "lender of last resort," in direct conflict with the recommendations of its regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Republicans and a handful of Democrats in the House and Senate, which already had passed an identical bill, say the data-collection rule would be too onerous for lenders and small-business borrowers. President Biden is expected to veto the legislation.

The Federal Home Loan Bank System is a crucial element of our financial infrastructure. All stakeholders should be included in discussions about reforming it.

The Federal Reserve's vice chair for supervision said the central bank is weighing regulatory and supervisory changes to liquidity management standards. Current approaches, he said, might not be able to contend with the speed of modern runs.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said that synthetic risk transfers make it easier for banks to accumulate risk, thereby making them less able to absorb losses in a crisis.

Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown, Elizabeth Warren, Jack Reed and John Fetterman say the revised approach would ensure the risks posed by the nation's largest banks are appropriately addressed. International banks, meanwhile, are concerned about the implications of the change.

During a second day of comparatively mild questioning from lawmakers in semiannual oversight hearings, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said artificial intelligence could exacerbate existing weaknesses in the financial system without tighter protections.

Brandon Milhorn, former top staffer to FDIC Vice Chairman Travis Hill, has been named president and CEO of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, effective Monday.

While House Republicans and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra normally clash, Republicans offered unusual praise for Chopra's efforts around data privacy for consumers.

The Federal Reserve's vice chair for supervision said new definitions around community development activities and the ability for banks to invest outside their immediate assessment areas could be a boon to Native Americans and their communities.

The hike was driven by modest home price gains this year, following a larger conforming loan limit boost in 2022 in reaction to then-double-digit home price growth.

A proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to hide medical debt from credit bureaus zeroes in on the unfairness of medical debt, but further reducing credit scores' utility as a proxy for a borrower's ability to repay doesn't do anyone any good.

The Federal Reserve governor was one of two dissenting votes on the proposed capital changes earlier this year, but he said he would be open to backing the package if operational capital changes were made.

Financial firms claim a proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would restrict lending, raise borrowing costs and result in more denials of credit to consumers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to limit law enforcement access to a tool that has proven vital in many criminal investigations.

In Canada and the U.K., borrowers can take mortgages with them from home to home. Some say this feature could unlock the U.S. housing market, but others say it would be more trouble than it's worth.

Capping interest rates may be popular with consumers, and ultimately voters, but doing so would actually hurt those advocates are trying to help.