When it comes to guaranty fees, FHFA has taken "meaningful steps" to level the playing field for community lenders, one agency official testified this week.
Federal prosecutors and members of the Justice Department’s Residential MBS Working Group are reportedly considering a new strategy for criminally charging Wall Street bankers for alleged fraud in their packaging and sale of MBS backed by subprime mortgages at the peak of the housing frenzy. According to Reuters, the members of the working group are eye-balling a shift in strategy that would involve moving away from the more widely used securities fraud charges to the less common offense of bank fraud. “Perpetrators of bank fraud can be charged up to 10 years after their crimes, compared with the five-year statute of limitations on securities fraud, which has already run out on most events leading up to the 2008 financial crisis,” Reuters reported. “A bank fraud conviction carries up to $1 million in fines and a maximum prison sentence of 30 years.” Laurence Platt, financial services practice leader in the Washington, DC, office of the K&L Gates law firm, said...
Federal regulators will make their next move on risk retention and defining qualified residential mortgages in September, according to the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission is working on a number of long-pending MBS rules, including the so-called Reg AB2. The Fed expects to take “further action” on risk retention in September, according to its latest regulatory agenda. The SEC, which is jointly working on the risk-retention rule with the Fed and other agencies, was vague, stating that the next action date was “undetermined.” Regulators have received...
FHA chief Carol Galante expressed concern about the absence of any provision in the bill that would ensure servicer accountability for their performance.
With six months left before a host of rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau kick in, mortgage industry representatives continue to ask for changes and clarifications – including some related to the components of the pending “qualified mortgage” points-and-fees calculation. Early this month, the CFPB formally proposed for public comment amendments to rules issued in January under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the Truth in Lending Act. Much of the focus of the proposed amendments relates to loan originator compensation and mortgage servicing issues. Industry commenters focused...
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