The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee this week concluded its 53rd consecutive meeting without raising interest rates, issuing a statement that provided no hint whatsoever that such an increase would occur this year, notwithstanding previous commentary and the wishes of many on Wall Street. “To support continued progress toward maximum employment and price stability, the committee today reaffirmed its view that the current 0 to 0.25 percent target range for the federal funds rate remains appropriate,” said the Fed in its now-boilerplate language. In determining how long to maintain this target range, the FOMC said...

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently loosened risk-retention requirements somewhat for collateralized loan obligations, giving in to requests from industry participants. Risk-retention requirements for non-residential securitized products, including CLOs, take effect Dec, 24, 2016. Federal regulators issued a final rule for risk-retention requirements in October 2014 and CLO industry participants have been working since then to try and get regulators to address issues created by the final rule. In mid-July, Crescent Capital Group wrote...

Effective immediately, any Ginnie Mae issuer that wants to bring servicing in-house from a subservicer must get the agency’s prior written approval...

But Garrett also noted: “Congress should kill the CFPB, or at least de-fang it, but until it does, total compliance is necessary.” That’s more like it…

One consultant said many lenders are now reviewing their MSAs and may follow the lead of Prospect.

Texas Capital BancShares recently unveiled a new correspondent acquisition program, but it’s not the loans per se that the bank is after – it’s the servicing rights attached to them. “They want to be in the servicing business,” said Chuck Klein, managing partner at Mortgage Banking Solutions. “The reason you enter the correspondent business is to get at the servicing rights. They’re in a great position to do a lot of business.” As for the details, the industry will...

The House Financial Services Committee this week marked up legislation to block pay raises for the top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and to extend qualified-mortgage status to loans originated for an institution’s retained portfolio. H.R. 1210, the Portfolio Lending and Mortgage Access Act, introduced by Rep. Andy Barr, R-KY, would extend qualified-mortgage protection from litigation and enforcement actions for mortgages originated and retained in portfolio by depository institutions. “This would incentivize private-sector risk retention,” said Barr. Rep. John Carney, D-DE, said...

W.J. Bradley Mortgage recently settled a civil suit filed against one of its competitors, RPM Mortgage, regarding the alleged theft of customer loan files by a top-ranked and recruited loan officer. In a statement, RPM said: “We are pleased that the litigation with W.J. Bradley has been settled. As always, the confidentiality of client information is of paramount importance to RPM.” W.J. Bradley, the original plaintiff in the matter, would not comment...

The Government Accountability Office wants federal regulators responsible for reviewing the qualified mortgage and qualified residential mortgage rules to make sure they consider specific metrics and analytic methods. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the other federal agencies are slated to issue a review of the QM rule in January. The review of the QRM standard, part of a mortgage-securitization rule, won’t happen until 2019. So far, the regulatory agencies have identified...

An appeals court in the D.C. Circuit has ruled that a Texas bank has standing to challenge the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an independent federal agency that regulates consumer financial products and services. A three-person judicial panel unanimously overturned a 2013 district court ruling, which concluded that the plaintiff did not have standing and that its claims were not ripe. In State National Bank of Big Spring, TX, et al. v. Lew, et al., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed and ruled that the bank has standing to challenge the constitutionality of the CFPB as well as the recess appointment of its director, Richard Cordray. The bank, joined by two nonprofit organizations, originally filed...