Regulatory reform

The launch of a combined securitization platform for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is meant to ease the transition to a new housing finance system. But questions remain about how the mortgage sphere will adapt to the single security.

The industry continues to push for an overhaul of the bureau’s leadership structure, but both parties seem uninterested.

The agency's spring rulemaking agenda includes the process for collecting small-business data as well as underwriting rules for GSE-backed loans. But what's missing from the list may be just as important.

Kathy Kraninger, the bureau's director, is in a standoff with Democrats about her claim that the agency cannot supervise institutions under the Military Lending Act.

All Democrats supported the bill focused on the decisions of former acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney, while all Republicans opposed it.

Mark Calabria said he wants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to take preliminary steps by Jan. 1 toward exiting conservatorship.

His administration is looking at different alternatives to reform the housing finance system.

In his first public policy speech as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Mark Calabria stressed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will have to raise significant capital via a public offering and take other steps in order to escape government control.

Brian Johnson, a Republican political appointee at the CFPB, has been named the agency's deputy director, the No. 2 job behind Director Kathy Kraninger.

The long-awaited proposal includes safe harbors to protect collectors from getting sued, but would restrict phone collection attempts and allow borrowers to opt out of receiving other communications.