|
CFPB studying compliance costs
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that it is studying the costs related to complying with rules the agency inherited from other regulators under the Dodd-Frank Act. Read on to learn why the CFPB is studying compliance costs and why some commenters believe the bureau’s plan misses the mark.
|
|
|
CFPB releases report on debt collection
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its second annual report detailing the agency’s efforts to administer the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The report describes the bureau’s supervision program as it relates to debt collection and discusses recent developments in the bureau’s law enforcement and advocacy program. Read on to learn about the CFPB’s efforts to enforce provisions of the FDCPA.
|
|
|
Joe Casa Awards nomination deadline this week — Act Now!
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2013
October Research LLC, publisher of Dodd Frank Update, announced that the deadline for the prestigious Joe Casa Awards nominations is March 31. Real estate, mortgage and settlement services professionals are invited to nominate colleagues for awards in leadership, innovation or philanthropy.
|
|
|
Proposed bill would remove affiliate fees from QM’s points and fees cap
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Groups representing the mortgage and land title industries are sounding off on proposed legislation that would remove fees paid to affiliates from the points and fees cap established by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under Dodd-Frank’s qualified mortgage provisions. Read on to learn about the bill and what industry participants are saying.
|
|
|
Appraisal rule takeaways: What you must know about the CFPB’s new mortgage rules
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released several important rules in January, including a pair of appraisal-related rules setting forth some new obligations for lenders. John Redding, a partner with Buckley Sandler LLP, discussed key aspects of the new rules during the recent Independent Community Bankers of America Convention and Techworld in Las Vegas. Read on for the details.
|
|
|
Maloney launches latest effort to overhaul overdraft
Posted Date: Friday, March 22, 2013
Rep. Carolyn Maloney again proposed legislation that would require overdraft fees to be reasonable and proportional to the amount of the overdraft. It’s the fifth time the New York Democrat has introduced overdraft legislation since 2005. Read on to learn how the measure differs from her previous bills.
|
|
|
LO Comp takeaways: What you must know about the CFPB’s new mortgage rules
Posted Date: Friday, March 22, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released several important rules in January, including a rule that will change how loan originators are paid and how they qualify for their jobs. John Redding, a partner with Buckley Sandler LLP, discussed key aspects of the CFPB’s new loan originator compensation rule during the recent Independent Community Bankers of America Convention and Techworld in Las Vegas. Read on to learn how the rule addresses the issue of whether certain bank mortgage servicing employees must be licensed as loan originators because they are engaged in negotiating loan modifications.
|
|
|
House committee approves raft of Dodd-Frank swaps bills
Posted Date: Friday, March 22, 2013
Measures that would exempt certain end-users from margin requirements and ensure that transactions between affiliates are not regulated as swaps are among seven legislative proposals approved by the U.S. House Agriculture Committee. The bills would amend Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act. Read on for the details.
|
|
|
CFPB takes aim at auto lending discrimination
Posted Date: Friday, March 22, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a bulletin clarifying that the bureau has authority to pursue auto lenders whose policies harm consumers through unlawful discrimination. The bulletin explains how the Equal Credit Opportunity Act applies to indirect auto lending. It also provides guidance for indirect auto lenders on ways to limit fair lending risk. Read on for the details.
|
|
|
Hensarling questions Fed’s authority to fund CFPB following appeals court decision
Posted Date: Friday, March 22, 2013
A top House Republican is questioning whether the Federal Reserve has the authority to fund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the wake of a court decision that cast doubt on the CFPB director’s recess appointment. Read on to learn what that lawmaker had to say about the issue in a recent letter to the Fed.
|
|
|
Credit union group asks CFPB for one Regulation Z
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 19, 2013
An association representing federal credit unions asked the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to release guidance combining all of its new mortgage rules into one uniform Regulation Z. In a recent letter to CFPB Director Richard Cordray, the National Association of Federal Credit Unions said complying with the fleet of mortgage rules has proved difficult because lenders must consult each rule separately. Read on to learn about additional steps NAFCU would like the CFPB to take to ease credit unions’ compliance burdens.
|
|
|
CFPB releases list of rural and underserved counties, plans to tweak definitions
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a preliminary list of counties where creditors will be exempt from certain new mortgage requirements. The list designates more than 1,600 counties and other political subdivisions as areas that are “rural” and “underserved.” The designations are important for determining which creditors will not be required to implement certain new escrow requirements later this year. Read on for the details.
|
|
|
|
QM takeaways: What you must know about the CFPB’s new mortgage rules
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released several important rules in January and the sheer volume of new requirements promises to complicate regulatory compliance for lenders. During the recent Independent Community Bankers of America Convention and Techworld in Las Vegas, John Redding, a partner with Buckley Sandler LLP, discussed aspects of the rules that lenders should be aware of. Part one of this multi-part report focuses on the new ability-to-repay rule. Read on to learn why lenders may need to retain some records far longer than the three years set forth in the CFPB’s final rule.
|
|
|
ICBA coverage: OCC to release ‘common sense’ guide to community banking
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Community bankers should view their examiners as a trusted source of information, Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said during the Independent Community Bankers of America National Convention and Techworld in Las Vegas. He encouraged bankers to take advantage of several resources the OCC makes available. He also previewed a new booklet titled A Common Sense Approach to Community Banking, which will be distributed to bankers in the coming weeks. Read on for the details.
|
|
|
Cordray nomination clears Senate Banking Committee
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The Senate Banking Committee narrowly approved Richard Cordray’s nomination to continue leading the consumer financial protection bureau. The GOP has vowed to block any CFPB nominee in the full Senate unless changes are made to the bureau’s leadership structure and funding mechanism. Read on for the details.
|
|
|
Fed rejects two firms’ capital plans
Posted Date: Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The Federal Reserve approved the capital plans of 14 large financial institutions on March 14 while two other institutions received conditional approval under the agency’s Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review. The Fed objected to two firms’ capital plans. Read on for the details.
|
|
|
Mandatory clearing begins as another important deadline approaches
Posted Date: Monday, March 18, 2013
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently implemented one of the Dodd-Frank Act’s most significant swaps market reforms. Swap dealers, major swap participants and private funds active in the swaps market are now required to clear certain index credit default swaps and interest rate swaps that they entered into on or after March 11. Read on to learn about another impending compliance deadline that will impact all swap counterparties.
|
|
|
ICBA coverage: Regulators discuss fair lending compliance
Posted Date: Monday, March 18, 2013
Fair lending is a perennial concern for community bankers and regulators acknowledge that fair lending compliance can be challenging. Dodd Frank Update was on hand as representatives from three federal agencies discussed their views on fair lending compliance during the Independent Community Bankers of America National Convention and Techworld in Las Vegas.
Read on to learn what a representative from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had to say about concerns that new rules from the Department of Housing and Urban Development could create fair lending issues for mortgage lenders who choose only to write qualified mortgages under the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule.
|
|
|
Basel III, mortgage requirements top ICBA list of policy priorities
Posted Date: Monday, March 18, 2013
The Independent Community Bankers of America will continue to push regulators to exempt smaller institutions from new regulatory capital rules currently being crafted under Basel III. That’s just one of several top policy priorities the group unveiled during the ICBA National Convention and Techworld in Las Vegas. Read on for an in-depth look at some of the key issues the association wants policymakers to address.
|
|
|
CFPB to oversee nonbank student loan servicers
Posted Date: Monday, March 18, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed a rule that would allow the agency to scrutinize major student loan servicers. The rule came after the bureau criticized the industry in a report released last year. Read on to learn about the proposed rule and about the issues the CFPB hopes to address.
|
|
|
Community banks critical to U.S. banking system, Gruenberg says
Posted Date: Monday, March 18, 2013
The community bank business model remains viable and such institutions are critical to the U.S. banking system, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg. Dodd Frank Update was on hand as Gruenberg addressed community bankers during the Independent Community Bankers of America National Convention and Techworld in Las Vegas. Read on for the details.
|
|
|
New mortgage servicing standards explored in upcoming webinar
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Under a mandate by the Dodd-Frank Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a final rule on Jan. 17 on new mortgage servicing standards, amending Regulation X and Regulation Z. This rule was one of many released by the CFPB in January, and like the others, it requires training, retooling and the implementation of new policies and procedures this year.
|
|
|
Rulemaking speed, transparency exhorted in Cordray, White hearing
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 13, 2013
The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs hammered home concerns about the structure and accountability of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the slow pace of rulemaking at the Securities and Exchange Commission, during confirmation hearings for the two leadership posts on March 12. While CFPB Director Richard Cordray earned bipartisan praise for his work to date, Senators on both sides took the opportunity to vocalize their positions on the ongoing controversy surrounding the structure of the CFPB. Read on for details on the testimony by Cordray and SEC nominee Mary Jo White.
|
|
|
Investors acknowledging Dodd-Frank’s impact on too-big-to-fail, trade groups say
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Major financial services industry associations hit back at suggestions that big banks are benefitting from a huge subsidy as the result of a belief that those banks are too big to fail. The argument over the amount of the subsidy, or even if one exists, has been simmering for months. The battle flared when a high-profile U.S. Senator challenged the leader of the Federal Reserve over the issue during a recent hearing. Read on for the details.
|
|
|
ICBA live coverage: Regulators discuss top community bank supervision issues
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Institutions facing challenging operating conditions must resist the temptation to take inappropriate risks in their hunt for earnings. That was one of admonitions regulators from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Reserve had for smaller institutions during the Independent Community Bankers of America National Convention and Techworld in Las Vegas. Read on to learn about the top issues examiners are seeing at community banks.
|
|
|
‘Push-out’ provision modification legislation earns bipartisan support
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Several legislators have gotten behind a bipartisan effort to modify the “push-out” provision in the Dodd-Frank Act to ensure that federally insured financial institutions can continue to conduct risk-mitigation efforts for clients like farmers and manufacturers that use swaps to insure against price fluctuations. A similar effort failed to reach a vote last year, but the idea is gaining support. Read on for the details of the legislation and to see who is throwing their support behind it.
|
|
|
OIG’s first priority: Evaluating CFPB’s examination approach
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 13, 2013
The Federal Reserve’s Office of Inspector General updated its Work Plan to put the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s approach to examinations of banking and nonbanking institution’s compliance at the top of its priority list. Industry participants have decried the CFPB approach and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently called for changes to the supervision and regulatory processes. Read on to learn what the OIG will specifically address.
|
|
|
FTC returns $1M to consumers in wake of debt relief company settlement
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 13, 2013
The Federal Trade Commission last week returned $1 million to over 17,000 homeowners who were deceived by an operation that purported to offer debt relief services to people facing foreclosure. The FTC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have been actively investigating such companies. Read on for the details.
|
|
|
Know your regulator: Long-time general counsel departing CFTC
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Commodity Futures Trading Commission General Counsel Dan Berkovitz will depart the agency at the end of March, ending a 30-year career in the federal government. Berkovitz served as the CFTC’s general counsel since June 2009, and has advised the commission on a variety of landmark legislative and regulatory initiatives including the CFTC’s implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act. Read on to learn about his work.
|
|
|
FHFA to launch new business entity while shrinking Fannie, Freddie
Posted Date: Friday, March 8, 2013
The market presence of government sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will shrink over time and a new business entity will be established under a plan outlined by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Read on to learn what the FHFA had to say about GSE reform in its 2013 Conservatorship Scorecard for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
|
|
|
Survey underscores need to change portion of SEF rulemaking, industry groups say
Posted Date: Friday, March 8, 2013
Industry groups said the results of a recent survey of asset managers for mutual funds, hedge funds and other buy-side industry participants show the Commodity Futures Trading Commission should rethink a portion of its proposed swap execution facility rule. According to the groups, over 84 percent of respondents said a proposed requirement to go out to five or more liquidity providers would result in increased transactions costs. Read on for the details.
|
|
|
Most big banks pass Fed stress tests
Posted Date: Friday, March 8, 2013
The results of supervisory stress tests required under the Dodd-Frank Act show the nation’s big banks are on firmer footing than they were ahead of the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve said. The results also show that while the 18 megabanks would suffer sizeable losses in the event of a severe recession, most of those banks would still maintain levels of capital well above a minimum Fed ratio.
|
|
|
Fed releases latest swipe fee survey
Posted Date: Friday, March 8, 2013
A Federal Reserve survey of 2011 data found that debit card issuers exempted from Dodd-Frank’s cap on interchange fees saw those fees decrease in the months following the cap’s enactment. The Fed also said it does not plan to revise the interchange fee standard based on the data. Read on for the details.
|
|
|
Servicer vows to fight proposed payment to consumer relief fund
Posted Date: Friday, March 8, 2013
A mortgage servicer rejected calls that it contribute to a government relief fund benefiting those who have been foreclosed on by the company and its affiliates. The company said the contribution proposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and state agencies is not warranted and it vowed to fight the plan in court if necessary. Read on for the details.
|
|
|
Sen. Shelby floats economic analysis, Dodd-Frank fix-it bills
Posted Date: Friday, March 8, 2013
Sen. Richard Shelby proposed a pair of bills that proponents said would clarify and streamline implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act. One of the bills is said to make several non-substantive, technical corrections to Dodd-Frank. The other bill would bar financial regulators from promulgating a new rule if the regulation’s costs outweigh its benefits. Read on for the details.
|
|
|
SEC seeks input on broker-dealer, adviser standard of conduct
Posted Date: Friday, March 8, 2013
The Securities and Exchange Commission is stepping into a contentious debate over the regulation of broker-dealers and investment advisers. The agency recently requested data and other information to assist regulators in considering whether to make new rules about the standards of conduct and regulatory obligations for broker-dealers and investment advisers. The SEC is particularly interested in the potential impact of creating a uniform fiduciary standard of conduct applicable to all investment advisers and broker-dealers when providing personalized investment advice to retail customers.
|
|
|
Lawmakers weigh Dodd-Frank swaps implementation
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is coordinating with international regulators as it works to establish a framework for substituted compliance that will serve as a basis for the commission’s Dodd-Frank cross-border policy, CFTC chairman Gary Gensler recently told Senate lawmakers. Gensler discussed cross-border matters and the CFTC’s struggle to implement position limits under the Dodd-Frank Act with members of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Read on for the details.
|
|
|
SEC discusses exam priorities
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The Securities Exchange Commission published its examination priorities for 2013, which cover a wide range of issues at financial institutions, including broker-dealers, clearing agencies, exchanges and self-regulatory organizations, investment companies, hedge funds and private equity funds and transfer agents. Read on to learn about the SEC’s Dodd-Frank Act-related examination plans.
|
|
|
Consumer advocates, housing industry professionals call for alignment of QM, QRM
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2013
A coalition representing consumer groups, civil rights organizations and housing finance professionals urged regulators to align the criteria underlying two important mortgage-related definitions described in the Dodd-Frank Act. The Coalition for Sensible Housing Policy said aligning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s recently finalized qualified mortgage requirements with the qualified residential mortgage definition currently being crafted by a group of regulators would benefit lower income borrowers while creating more opportunities for private capital to reenter the mortgage market.
|
|
|
Systemic FMUs would access Reserve Bank accounts under proposed rule
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The Federal Reserve is seeking comment on a proposed rule setting forth the conditions and requirements for a Federal Reserve Bank to open and maintain accounts for systemically important financial market utilities. In addition, the proposed rule would authorize a Reserve Bank to pay interest on the balances maintained by a designated FMU. Read on for the details.
|
|
|
CFPB nomination battle heats up
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Senate Democrats and Republicans are digging in ahead of a looming battle over the leadership of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A hearing on Richard Cordray’s re-nomination to continue leading the bureau is scheduled for next week. However, Republicans believe a recent court decision gives them leverage in an ongoing struggle over the bureau’s funding and leadership structure. Read on for the latest.
|
|
|
States lack standing in Dodd-Frank constitutional challenge, government says
Posted Date: Friday, March 1, 2013
The government has again asked a federal district court to toss a high-profile Dodd-Frank constitutional challenge brought by a Texas-based community bank, a senior advocacy group, a public policy think tank and numerous states. The government argued that the states — including several that recently joined the case — lack standing. Read on to learn how the plaintiffs responded.
|
|
|
Lew takes helm at U.S. Treasury
Posted Date: Friday, March 1, 2013
Jack Lew was sworn in as the 76th secretary of the Treasury on Feb. 28, a day after his nomination was confirmed by the Senate. Read on to learn about Lew and his responsibilities under the Dodd-Frank Act.
|
|
|
Fed chief calls for ‘broad inventory’ of regulations impacting community banks
Posted Date: Friday, March 1, 2013
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress that a review of regulations impacting community banks would likely be “worth doing.” Bernanke discussed banking, monetary policy, the federal deficit, Dodd-Frank and other issues during two days of U.S. House and Senate hearings. Read on to learn what Bernanke had to say about community banks and whether Dodd-Frank will end too-big-to-fail.
|
|
|
There’s life outside of QM, Cordray says
Posted Date: Friday, March 1, 2013
While some question whether lenders will write loans that fail to meet the qualified mortgage standards set forth under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new ability-to-repay rule, CFPB Director Richard Cordray says responsible loans can be made outside of QM. He urged credit unions that helped “write the book” on responsible underwriting to lend to qualified borrowers who may have difficulty obtaining credit. Read on to learn what Cordray had to say about the non-QM space.
|
|
|
CFPB reasserts authority to share info with state AGs
Posted Date: Friday, March 1, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made a media splash when it released several important final mortgage rules earlier this year. However, another recent CFPB final rule garnered far less attention. The rule, which supersedes an interim final rule released in 2011, establishes bureau procedures regarding the confidential treatment of certain information. Industry commenters were concerned that the interim final rule was too permissive in its criteria for disclosing such information — particularly when it comes to disclosing information to state attorneys general. Read on to learn how the bureau responded to those concerns in the final rule.
|
|