Regulatory reform

Senate Banking Committee members feel urgency to pass a bill dealing with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but the same obstacles that have stalled congressional action for years remain.

The bureau issued three policies removing the threat of legal liability for approved companies that test new products.

The Treasury secretary said he hopes lawmakers will back reforms of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac within three to six months.

A major credit union conference will bring lawmakers face to face with the industry as Congress returns from its summer recess.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac investors won a victory in their long battle to reap benefits from their stakes in the mortgage giants with a court ruling letting them pursue claims that the U.S. sweep of the companies’ earnings is illegal.

The Trump administration raised the goal posts for ending the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but how officials get there is still highly uncertain.

A new kind of institution wants to make the interest rate the Federal Reserve pays to its member institutions more widely available, but that could have big implications for monetary policy.

The Fed is seeking feedback on a "Building Block Approach" to risk-based capital standards for firms heavily engaged in insurance activities.

The Treasury Department made clear in a much-anticipated report that it prefers Congress take up reform of the government-sponsored enterprises, but it also recommended steps that federal agencies could take without legislation.

The top regulatory official at the central bank said it could deploy either one of two tools to revise the proposed stress capital buffer. The plan aims to streamline the stress test program.

With officials putting finishing touches on presidentially directed reports on the future of the housing finance system, the Senate Banking Committee announced a hearing to examine the issue.

Readers react to jilted GSE legacy shareholders and a proposal making it harder to cite disparate impact, criticize Democrats asking the CFPB to stop its payday rule revamp and more.

The mortgage industry will be looking for answers when Treasury and HUD unveil reports on housing finance reform, but the Trump administration’s plans could also raise a whole new host of questions.

The Treasury’s takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac left legacy shareholders holding the bag.

Though advocates and industry are rarely aligned, they are starting to coalesce around a plan that would call for the elimination of the CFPB’s 43% debt-to-income limit as part of its qualified mortgage rule.

When lawmakers return from their August recess, a host of unresolved financial policy issues — from marijuana banking to anti-money-laundering rule — will greet them.

The agencies handed banks a significant victory when they finalized revisions to the Dodd-Frank proprietary trading ban, but officials also plan to re-propose changes to the “covered funds” section of the rule.

After two regulatory agencies adopted final revisions to the rule, Dodd-Frank defenders expressed concern that the amendments to the proprietary trading ban undermined the post-crisis statute.

The agency is trying to update its rate-cap policy for institutions that fall below "well-capitalized." But it remains to be seen if the proposed changes fully address community bankers' concerns.

The agencies had proposed an "accounting prong" as an alternative means to determine which proprietary trades are banned, but their final rule heeded industry concerns that that would be worse than the current approach.