A series of court decisions have affirmed the supremacy of the executive branch of government in its regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the chagrin of private-equity investors seeking compensation in the wake of the financial crisis, according to a recent analysis by Kroll Bond Rating Agency. Those recent court decisions confirm the fact that the two GSEs are “instrumentalities of the federal government and not private corporations,” Kroll analysts said. “While this reality may bother some equity investors – and rightly so – this is good news for bond investors,” they noted. For equity investors, the court decisions underscore the fact that the GSEs are “creatures of Congress,” the analysts pointed out. In contrast, private corporations are governed by ...
The Federal Housing Finance Agency recently updated its regulatory guidance for the Federal Home Loan Banks on the reporting of fraudulent financial instruments. The new guidance instructs the FHLBanks to implement policies and procedures for complying with the reporting requirements regarding anti-money laundering and suspicious activity that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network published Feb. 25, 2014. The FinCEN regulation takes some of the provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act and applies them to the FHLBanks, and delegates examination responsibility to the FHFA to determine compliance. “Generally, the FinCEN regulation requires that each regulated entity develop an anti-money laundering program and file suspicious activity reports (SARs), among other requirements,” the FHFA said. The FinCEN reg took effect April 28, 2014. The ...
A handful of nonbank mortgage companies reporting substantial losses during the fourth quarter weighed down industry-wide mortgage banking income, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of earnings reports. A diverse group of 31 mortgage lenders that includes the biggest players in the market earned a combined $3.227 billion on their mortgage banking operations during the fourth quarter. That was down 8.2 percent from the group’s $3.516 billion during the third quarter. The fourth quarter was...[Includes one data chart]
Conversations with executives at leading industry technology vendors suggest that if mortgage lenders are not already testing their systems and processes for compliance with the impending integrated disclosure rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, they are already behind the curve. Tech vendors have been working with some of their clients for months already, and in some cases for more than a year, testing systems and process as they prepare for “TRID,” the Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act integrated disclosure rule. Scott Stucky, chief strategy officer at DocuTech, said...
Lenders should stay as far away as possible from even the appearance of basing any part of a loan officer’s pay on the terms of a mortgage. During an Inside Mortgage Finance webinar this week, Amy Durant, an attorney with the Bodman law firm in Ann Arbor, MI, emphasized the importance of the restrictions on compensation that are embedded in a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule. The rule states...
As Republican leaders in Congress stake out hard-line positions on structural changes to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Democrats are responding by digging in their heels, raising the prospects of more gridlock. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-AL, chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, recently stated his desire to pull the CFPB within the orbit of the congressional appropriations process. He is also interested in changing the leadership structure of the bureau from a single director to a governing board. Ranking Member Jeff Merkley, D-OR, and other Democrats are opposed...
Last year, House appropriators turned down a request that would have allowed the FHA to charge a fee of 2 to 4 basis points to lenders prospectively...
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