News Topic: FHFA

A regulatory plan to create new restrictions on banks’ executive compensation practices appears dead – but changes since the financial crisis may have made the proposal largely obsolete anyway. ... Read full article

British bank to pay $5.5 billion to settle mortgage issues, but faces Justice Department fine; Payments company offers restaurants $10,000 to stop accepting cash. ... Read full article

Royal Bank of Scotland Group agreed to pay $5.5 billion to settle the second of three major U.S. mortgage-backed securities probes the government-owned lender must overcome before it can fully return to the private sector. ... Read full article

The Federal Housing Finance Agency made just incremental changes to two of the seven affordable housing benchmarks. ... Read full article

With lawmakers bracing for a major policy undertaking to reform the government-sponsored enterprises, they can take comfort that they don’t need to start from scratch. ... Read full article

The Senate is set to begin teeing up housing finance reform discussions at a Banking Committee hearing on Thursday, but many are skeptical that Congress will be able to succeed where it has failed in the past. ... Read full article

A key question for the future of housing finance is whether large and small lenders will both be able to compete, or will a new system favor Wall Street giants? ... Read full article

The ICBA backs a plan to recapitalize Fannie and Freddie through retained earnings and public offerings, but other groups see it as a self-interested proposal to help GSE stockholders. ... Read full article

President Trump’s budget would reduce funds to the CFPB and eliminate a fund designed to help regulators unwind a failing megabank. ... Read full article

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was pressed for his views on housing finance reform, what a “modernized” version of the Glass-Steagall Act would look like and a two-tiered regulatory system. ... Read full article

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be able to rebuild a capital buffer to avoid any potential crisis in the mortgage market, according to a coalition of affordable housing advocates, homebuilders and small mortgage lender groups. ... Read full article

FHFA Director Mel Watt warned Thursday that to prevent a potential draw on the Treasury Department by the government-sponsored enterprises, he is willing to act unilaterally to rebuild capital at Fannie and Freddie. ... Read full article

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued proposals Monday to create pilot programs for loans on mobile homes, part of an ambitious plan for underserved and rural housing markets. ... Read full article

Congressional action to reform housing finance is ultimately needed, but we must confront the risk of continued drift and inaction if Congress is unable to act. ... Read full article

A new Republican plan to streamline Dodd-Frank's capital rules, stress tests and many other requirements will be reintroduced in the coming weeks by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling. ... Read full article

Private market mortgage insurance companies should better align their buyback and rescission policies with those of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said. ... Read full article

A bipartisan group of senators told Mel Watt, the regulator who oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, that he shouldn't allow the companies to recapitalize without congressional approval. ... Read full article

The groups and industry trade associations want the Treasury Department and the FHFA to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to build up capital reserves. ... Read full article