Tax reform

NCUA Chairman Mark McWatters has responded to a controversial letter from U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch questioning the credit union tax exemption.

Proposal would lower capital requirements for some, raise them for others; Mulvaney says enforcement division will continue to police lending discrimination.

As tax reform spurs demand, a rising rate environment is making the short-term loans more appealing to banks.

Banking and affordable housing advocates are encouraged by a provision in the tax reform legislation that could increase investment in underserved communities by allowing investors to defer capital gains taxes when they reinvest in federally chartered Opportunity Funds.

The tax reform law passed late last year, which significantly cut the corporate tax rate, has been widely popular among banks, but a one-time hit to the value of their deferred tax assets was felt far and wide.

The quarterly earnings decline from a year earlier was largely due to a one-time hit to the value of banks’ deferred tax assets, according to the agency’s Quarterly Banking Profile.

National Credit Union Administration Chairman J. Mark McWatters made an appeal to credit union executives to work with small community banks when it comes to advocating for shared goals.

Financial services groups are calling for more funding for the Internal Revenue Service that could fix flaws in the agency's system for verifying the income of mortgage applicants.

The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions and the Credit Union National Association sent a joint letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch on Wednesday defending the credit union charter and its tax status.

Tax reform caused Fannie Mae to burn through retained earnings that had been approved just two months ago and to post a fourth-quarter loss. CEO Timothy Mayopoulos argued it was a one-time event that overshadowed strong fundamentals.

It’s too soon to gauge the true impact of recent tax cuts on loan demand, but anecdotes from bankers suggest that, after months of stagnation, pipelines are filling up again.

Profits fell 42% at the Birmingham, Ala., bank because of a $121 million tax charge in the fourth quarter, but net interest income and noninterest income each rose 14%, softening the blow of the one-time tax hit.

Credit union groups were scrambling Wednesday to respond to a letter from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch questioning whether the industry had outgrown its income-tax exemption.

In the wake of President Trump’s tax cut, banks would be wise to take the time to explore investment opportunities before returning increased profits to shareholders.

Swelling capital levels, tax cuts and changing attitudes about post-crisis regulation could encourage bigger banks to issue the one-time payouts to reward shareholders and better manage their returns.

The busy legislative agenda laid out by President Trump in the State of the Union speech Tuesday night casts doubt on how quickly Congress can move on financial services legislation, particularly a housing finance reform package.

The Texas bank also capitalized on rising rates and a positive adjustment to deferred taxes tied to tax reform in reporting a double-digit gain to profits in the fourth quarter.

A plan by the largest U.S. bank to use part of its tax windfall to enter new markets (including Washington and Boston) could become a serious threat for banks of all sizes in those cities — or looked backed upon someday as a pricey overexpansion.

Consumer lending was a bright spot, but a series of one-time charges, capped by a writedown on its deferred tax assets, led to a nearly $1 billion loss.

Flagstar Bancorp swung to a fourth-quarter loss as the company took an $80 million noncash charge to earnings because of the tax reform bill.