Politics

Sandra Thompson has won praise from homeownership advocates for suspending a fee imposed on borrowers that was meant to recoup Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's pandemic-related losses, among other actions she reversed. On Tuesday, President Biden said he will nominate her to be the permanent director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

A clash among FDIC board members has intensified a debate about whether regulators should take a tougher look at large M&A deals. House Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters added to the frenzy by calling for a moratorium on approving big acquisitions.

Besides making the deduction permanent, the bill doubles the income threshold for those eligible to claim it.

After Democrats failed last year to rally support for a federal 36% limit, House and Senate proponents are trying to capitalize on the momentum from state rate caps that recently passed on a bipartisan basis.

In a letter to the agency’s new director, top Senate Democrats recommended policy steps intended to limit mistakes in consumers’ credit files that they said “can ruin lives.”

The Federal Housing Administration’s changes seek to bring guidelines for specialized Title I programs in line with current borrower and market needs.

Randal Quarles, who oversaw an easing of post-financial crisis rules as the Federal Reserve’s vice chair of supervision, announced he will resign at the end of this year. His departure will leave President Biden with another open seat to fill on the central bank’s board.

Common Securitization Solutions has disbanded a group of independent board members originally brought on in early 2020 to look into using the government-sponsored enterprises’ platform to serve a broader market.

The organizations have created the Racial Equity Accelerator for Homeownership, a two-year incubator for the development of innovations to address racial inequality in wealth and housing.

Criticism from banking and other business groups of Saule Omarova’s candidacy could make it difficult for moderate Democrats to support President Biden's pick to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.