Late last week, the CFPB issue a final rule amending the Truth in Lending Act’s Regulation Z, stating that the 2009 Credit Card Act’s limits on fees apply only during the first year after an account is opened. The rule reverses a previous interpretation from the Federal Reserve back in 2011 which said that the act’s provisions (which limit fees a card issuer can charge to 25 percent of the account’s credit limit when first opened) also applied to fees charged before the account was opened...
The Federal Reserve Board Office of Inspector General is expected to produce the results of two CFPB-related audits by the end of this month, one of which is an evaluation of the CFPB’s contract solicitation and selection process. “This evaluation’s objective is to determine whether the CFPB’s contract solicitation and selection processes and practices are compliant with applicable rules established by the Federal Acquisition Regulation,” the OIG said in its latest work plan. “We plan to focus on a specific contract...
The CFPB recently announced regional directors in its Office of Supervision Examinations. Edwin Chow, in the West region, is one of the founding staffers of the CFPB, and he joined the implementation team in September 2010. He brings 26 years of experience serving as acting regional director, regional deputy director, and assistant regional director with the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Thrift Supervision and the Federal Home Loan Bank Board San Francisco office. Anthony Gibbs, in the Midwest region, is the newest...
Grassley Can’t Get a Vote on Independent IG. As the Senate was wrapping up its calendar before its spring break with an extensive amount of work on a budget, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-IA, was pushing a non-binding amendment calling for the creation of an independent inspector general at the CFPB – a role currently being filled by the Federal Reserve Board Office of Inspector General. An aide to Grassley said his amendment was not able to get called up for a vote, due to the sheer volume of amendments being advanced by members...
The Biggest Threat to Credit Unions? The CFPB. During “Regulatory Update Day” at the National Association of Federal Credit Union’s Regulatory Compliance School last week, NAFCU General Counsel and Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Carrie Hunt said, “The CFPB is the biggest threat to credit union operations.” Mortgage Market Needs Confidence, Reliability Restored. “This country has a tremendous need to restore confidence and reliability to the mortgage market, which as you know is the single largest market for consumer finance,”...
FHFA's plan for a single MBS platform that would be managed by a new government entity separate from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac does not mean the agency is contemplating consolidating the two GSEs at this time.
The Mortgage Bankers Association and other industry trade groups are backing bipartisan legislation that would modify the definition of points and fees in the 'ability-to-repay' and QM rules.
The Federal Reserve looks like it will stay the course on its asset purchase program for the foreseeable future, but with more flexibility than some on Wall Street were expecting. The Fed’s Open Market Committee this week decided to continue its additional monthly purchases of $40 billion of agency MBS, along with $45 billion in longer-term Treasury securities “until the outlook for the labor market has improved substantially in a context of price stability.”
A federal judge in Los Angeles last week denied a motion by Bank of America’s Countrywide Financial unit to dismiss securities fraud claims by the Federal Housing Finance Agency on behalf of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for toxic MBS purchased by the government-sponsored enterprises.The FHFA’s complaint alleges that Fannie and Freddie purchased approximately $26.6 billion in residential MBS that Countrywide sold from Aug. 30, 2005, to Jan. 23, 2008. The agency alleges negligent misrepresentations and fraud related to the offerings of Countrywide MBS.
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