Now that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says it will scrap an unpopular standard for so-called qualified mortgages, the big question is what will take its place.

The agency has named Thomas G. Ward as the bureau’s assistant director for enforcement. House Democrats have questioned Ward's role as a political appointee in the Trump administration.

In another rollback of the bank trading ban, the federal agencies unveiled a plan to allow financial institutions to invest in multiple companies through certain fund structures.

In the past, the agency cited the legal term in enforcement actions without stating what it meant, but Director Kathy Kraninger has sought to give the industry clearer guidance.

Democratic lawmakers, state attorneys general and others filed briefs with the Supreme Court rebutting claims that the agency’s leadership structure is unconstitutional.

Regulators already finalized a rollback of the proprietary trading ban section of the rule but signaled then that their overhaul was not finished.

The agency is sending a strong message that it won’t rush to end an exemption for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while also signaling longer-term changes that will affect all lenders.

Director Kathy Kraninger has told lawmakers that the agency will delay the expiration of the so-called QM patch, now set for January 2021.

In another sign of state officials trying to outdo the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, governors in California and New York want greater authority to license and oversee the debt collection industry.

The Supreme Court appointed Paul Clement to represent the agency after the bureau’s current director questioned its constitutionality.