Republicans on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee got a tougher time from their Democrat counterparts than Richard Cordray got from the Republicans during this week’s hearing on his re-nomination to be the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Political observers see that as a sign of GOP confidence in the leverage they have in trying to compel President Obama and his allies on Capitol Hill to agree to some key changes to the bureau in exchange for installing Cordray for a second term at its helm. Republicans continue...
Few multistate lenders subject to reviews by state regulators submitted sufficient mortgage call report data last year, according to the Multistate Mortgage Committee. The regulators also cited lenders for origination issues and said they are working toward settlements with smaller servicers. The 2012 annual report released late last week by the MMC detailed two separate widespread data-related violations of state regulations, one involving limited scope electronic exams and the other involving a risk profiling program. The LSE exams were introduced...
A number of industry representatives are calling on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to carefully test its pending integrated consumer disclosure forms under the Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act before they are actually put into use. At issue is the CFPB’s proposal to conduct quantitative testing in fiscal years 2013 and 2014 of the performance of the current disclosures versus the proposed disclosures forthcoming later this year. “In 2008, the Department of Housing and Urban Development finalized...
Private mortgage insurers and their industry allies this week warned Congress that a narrowly defined “qualified residential mortgage” rule and the proposed Basel III asset risk-weighting proposal could push loans to the FHA and make solvency a bigger problem for federal mortgage insurance. Industry representatives testifying during a hearing before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance said that while current FHA policies have crowded out private mortgage insurers from the marketplace, there are proposals under consideration that could give the FHA an even greater edge over private MIs. Specifically, the proposed QRM rule would exclude...
A U.S. Senator’s call for a Department of Justice investigation into whether Lender Processing Services used an improper fee structure to double-bill underwater homeowners for servicing fees related to processing foreclosures and bankruptcies is off the mark and old business, say industry observers. In a letter sent last week to Attorney General Eric Holder, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-OR, cited concerns brought to his attention by an industry professional that Jacksonville, FL-based LPS engineered a scheme to charge homeowners or mortgage investors for foreclosure-related legal services provided by the company’s preferred network of law firms. Banks using LPS network law firms would receive free access to the firm’s mortgage-processing software, according to the letter. “The ramifications of this case, however, seem...
Mary Jo White, the nominee to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission, said this week that enforcement actions against Wall Street firms and implementation of rules relating to credit ratings will be two of her many priorities if she is confirmed as head of the SEC. Industry analysts suggest that the Senate will easily confirm her nomination. “At the SEC, there’s no institution too big to charge,” White said at a hearing this week by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. The comment was...
A number of significant former members of the American Securitization Forum are working to form a new trade group, with a formal announcement possible as soon as this week. Meanwhile, Tom Deutsch, executive director of the ASF, said his group continues to work with more than 300 members. As many as 30 firms could be a part of a new securitization trade group, with the name “Structured Finance Industry Group” being considered. Wells Fargo has confirmed that it will be a member of the new group. Other firms that recently quit the ASF’s board or otherwise ended their membership with the ASF include...
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