Regulatory reform

The bureau issued three policies removing the threat of legal liability for approved companies that test new products.

The Treasury secretary said he hopes lawmakers will back reforms of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac within three to six months.

The Trump administration raised the goal posts for ending the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but how officials get there is still highly uncertain.

The Treasury Department made clear in a much-anticipated report that it prefers Congress take up reform of the government-sponsored enterprises, but it also recommended steps that federal agencies could take without legislation.

With officials putting finishing touches on presidentially directed reports on the future of the housing finance system, the Senate Banking Committee announced a hearing to examine the issue.

The mortgage industry will be looking for answers when Treasury and HUD unveil reports on housing finance reform, but the Trump administration’s plans could also raise a whole new host of questions.

Though advocates and industry are rarely aligned, they are starting to coalesce around a plan that would call for the elimination of the CFPB’s 43% debt-to-income limit as part of its qualified mortgage rule.

The agencies handed banks a significant victory when they finalized revisions to the Dodd-Frank proprietary trading ban, but officials also plan to re-propose changes to the “covered funds” section of the rule.

After two regulatory agencies adopted final revisions to the rule, Dodd-Frank defenders expressed concern that the amendments to the proprietary trading ban undermined the post-crisis statute.

The agencies had proposed an "accounting prong" as an alternative means to determine which proprietary trades are banned, but their final rule heeded industry concerns that that would be worse than the current approach.