Responding to potential enforcement actions has become even more challenging because the number of agencies with concurrent jurisdiction has increased, and the authorities of those agencies have been broadened. ... Read full article
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be increasing the availability of loans to the most underserved segment of the market: the small rental properties across the country that are naturally affordable. ... Read full article
Congress must create mechanisms to dampen the volatility of housing finance, writes the former regulator for Fannie and Freddie on the fifth anniversary of their takeover by the government. ... Read full article
The idea of bringing criminal charges against one of the nations larger banks has become untenable. The potential cost in jobs, probable shareholder losses and market turmoil would be horrific. ... Read full article
A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week. ... Read full article
The law's biggest mistake was failing to consolidate financial regulators, Editor-At-Large Barbara A. Rehm says, but there are plenty of other shortcomings as well. ... Read full article
Strengthening the underlying loan manufacturing process and diversifying this risk in the secondary market remain critical to ensuring the integrity of the market. ... Read full article
The Basel system has sanctioned bank balance sheets on the verge of insolvency, but in doing so it may have permitted much more lending and much more trading. ... Read full article
While some saw Tim Pawlenty's unexpected recommendation to strike Syria as a sign he may be weighing a return to politics, the former Minnesota governor said he is focused on his "current job" as head of the Financial Services Roundtable. ... Read full article
The idea of subjecting U.S. financial supervision to peer review by European and Asian financial regulators with their own problems is a bit rich to swallow. ... Read full article
If spun off from firms that rate corporate debt, raters of asset-backed securities would have less incentive to sugarcoat ratings in exchange for the promise of an issuers other business. ... Read full article
The Fed is prepping a proposal to toughen Regulation W, which governs how a bank does business with its subsidiaries and affiliates. ... Read full article
A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week. ... Read full article
Government-mandated risk retention is not an answer to the problem of bad loans being bundled up and sold to unsuspecting buyers. A better approach is to make sure that MBS purchasers have access to good loan-level data about what they are buying. ... Read full article
By pretending to treat the guarantee problem as actuarial rather than political, Corker-Warner can garner the support of traditional lending and housing lobbies that historically supported Fannie and Freddie. ... Read full article
A Huffington Post scoop describes serious morale problems at the Fed, but lays most of the blame for that on former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan. Editor-at-large Barbara A. Rehm sees it differently. ... Read full article
Bank regulators, enforcement authorities and legislatures in key countries will have to work together to enforce Basel's well-meaning guidelines related to money-laundering and terrorism financing. ... Read full article
Incremental gains in women's progress are no longer a sufficient substitute for meaningful change. ... Read full article
The federal income tax exemption benefits credit union members and bank customers as credit unions provide a check on banks through their competitive rates and fees. ... Read full article
We need to secure a balance between literal enforcement of statistical conclusions and the actual intention of the bank and the real needs of underserved minority communities. ... Read full article
