Tax reform

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.