Regulation and compliance

Republicans play nice with Powell despite Trump’s criticism

Republicans play nice with Powell despite Trump’s criticism

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifying in the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday morning.Bloomberg News WASHINGTON — House Republicans struck a mostly cordial tone with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at a hearing at the House Financial Services Committee.  Trump, ahead of the hearing, called on Republicans to press Powell after he held interest rates […]

Republicans play nice with Powell despite Trump’s criticism Read More »

Bank of America exits CFPB monitoring three years early

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau cut short a five-year agreement with Bank of America Corp. over the bank’s alleged submission of false mortgage data as the significantly curtailed government agency rolls back a bevy of settlements, ending the monitoring of BofA more than three years early. The bank “fulfilled the obligations” of the agreement signed

Bank of America exits CFPB monitoring three years early Read More »

Trigger lead ban nears finish line in Congress

After several starts and stops, the trigger leads ban is the closest it’s ever been to becoming law, after the House of Representatives approved its version of the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act. There are some differences with the Senate version of the bill, which was approved by unanimous consent on June 12. Those can be

Trigger lead ban nears finish line in Congress Read More »

Fed officially nixes reputation risk from exam practices

Fed officially nixes reputation risk from exam practices

Bloomberg News The Federal Reserve has officially started scrubbing “reputational risk” from its supervisory policies and practices.  The central bank announced Monday that it is removing all mentions of reputation and reputational risk from its exam manuals and supervisory materials. In some cases, the agency is replacing those references with discussions of specific financial risks.

Fed officially nixes reputation risk from exam practices Read More »

Fed’s Bowman makes case for leverage ratio reform

Fed’s Bowman makes case for leverage ratio reform

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman.Bloomberg News The Federal Reserve’s top regulator said changes are needed to the supplementary leverage ratio to improve the Treasury market and ensure banks face proper risk incentives.  In a Monday speech, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said the current calibration of the capital requirement is

Fed’s Bowman makes case for leverage ratio reform Read More »

Trump signs nullification of OCC bank merger guidelines

Trump signs nullification of OCC bank merger guidelines

Bloomberg News WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday evening signed a rule that officially eliminates the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s stricter reviews of certain bank mergers.  Trump signed the Congressional Review Act resolution Friday nullifying the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s Biden-era rule that got rid of an expedited

Trump signs nullification of OCC bank merger guidelines Read More »

Mortgage pros share tips for riding out volatility

Short-term market swings are nothing new but the kind of volatility mortgage lenders are dealing with today is driven less by predictable economic indicators and more by geopolitical tensions, trade policy shifts, and global headlines. While volatility has ticked up, it’s not at historic extremes. The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures stress in financial markets,

Mortgage pros share tips for riding out volatility Read More »

Top Treasury official wants to ‘Americanize’ any Basel rule

Top Treasury official wants to ‘Americanize’ any Basel rule

Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg The Treasury Department is working with the bank regulators to finish the U.S.’s Basel committee-pursuant capital standards with an eye to clearing obstacles for American firms and “harmonizing” regulation of the financial system, the deputy secretary said Friday. Michael Faulkender said parts of the capital framework issued by the Basel committee would be

Top Treasury official wants to ‘Americanize’ any Basel rule Read More »

CFPB servicing rule change raises alarm for bankers

The American Bankers Association voiced its concerns over a proposed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau final rule to eliminate a pandemic-era policy affecting loss-mitigation procedures that brought flexibility to servicers.  While stating its support to the easing of some regulations proposed since the beginning of the second Trump term, the ABA urged the bureau to retain

CFPB servicing rule change raises alarm for bankers Read More »

DOJ quietly axes more redlining settlements with lenders

The Trump administration is moving swiftly to roll back Biden-era redlining enforcement. Federal courts in recent weeks have terminated five consent orders with mortgage lenders, which stemmed from redlining probes by the prior administration. The Department of Justice claimed those companies satisfied the terms of their settlements months and years before their expiration, freeing them

DOJ quietly axes more redlining settlements with lenders Read More »