Regulatory reform

Lenders should not get so desperate chasing volume by originating lower credit non-qualified mortgage products that they are inviting the next regulatory crackdown, said David Stevens, the Mortgage Bankers Association's CEO.

A bill to allow captive insurance companies to be reinstated as members of the Federal Home Loan Bank System appears to be dividing the FHLB community.

Critics of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have long sought to convert its leadership structure from a single director to a five-member commission. Here’s why the idea is dead on arrival.

First the House and now the Senate have included provisions in their regulatory relief bills that bankers say would go a long way toward clearing up confusion over how to treat high-volatility commercial real estate loans.

Freddie Mac and Arch Capital are testing a new form of risk-sharing deal to boost investor appetite for low down payment mortgages. But the pilot is raising concerns about "charter creep" because it dictates private mortgage insurance decisions typically made by lenders.

A late addition to regulatory relief legislation would direct the Federal Housing Finance Agency to review credit-scoring alternatives, but some say the provision is redundant.

Former Rep. Barney Frank rejected concerns voiced by other Democrats that a Senate bill rolling back some provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act will fuel another financial crisis.

The success of the government-sponsored enterprises' credit risk transfer programs shows that they can be the basis for housing finance reform.

The Senate is poised to pass the most substantial bank regulatory relief since the crisis, but any disruption of the post-crisis regime is still eclipsed by how much the bill enshrines Dodd-Frank.

“Why we think we know better or how to protect consumers in your state surprises me,” acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney told a group of state attorneys general. “I don’t think we’ll being do much of that anymore.”

Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting said reform of Community Reinvestment Act regulations is a "key element" of how regulators aim to recalibrate rules a decade after the financial crisis.

As a bipartisan regulatory relief bill approaches the finish line in the Senate, the House has mostly stood on the sidelines. But no one expects the lower chamber to just rubber-stamp the deal.

The Supreme Court dealt hedge funds and other big investors a blow Tuesday by refusing to revive core parts of lawsuits that challenged the federal government’s capture of billions of dollars in profits generated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Despite a legislative push by some senators and other stakeholders to jump-start housing finance reform, efforts to form consensus over a bill once again are stuck in neutral.

Lenders should be encouraged to hold more credit risk in the mortgage market, rather than having it foisted on Fannie and Freddie.

Housing finance reformers are pushing full steam ahead to get a bill introduced before the political calendar makes passage nearly impossible.

The acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can utilize "look-backs" of mortgage servicing and underwriting rules to push for significant changes.

Many in the industry applauded the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new mission statement shifting the agency's focus away from using enforcement actions as a substitute for rules of the road.

Senate negotiators are working on a bill that would place Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into receivership and replace them with multiple mortgage guarantors, according to sources.

Housing regulators should not adopt an alternative credit scoring model until the banking industry is on board.