Tag Archives: Regulation

Financial reform advocates have two birthdays to celebrate on Saturday. This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of the watchdog Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the two-year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act, the sweeping financial reform law that spawned it. Their stories run parallel to each other ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô and rightly so. The consumer bureau squeaked past partisan gridlock this time last year, just one year after Democrats, then in the majority of both houses of Congress, cleared Dodd-Frank for the president├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós signature.

Lake Research Partners released the results of an opinion poll showing that financial reforms enacted in recent years remain popular with potential voters. In light of events leading to 2008's financial meltdown, potential voters seem to overwhelmingly favor financial reform laws designed to prevent abuse. Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of respondents favor the Dodd-Frank financial reforms, while only 20 percent expressed disagreement. The support for Dodd-Frank crosses party lines.

At a House of Representatives hearing titled Appraisal Oversight: The Regulatory Impact on Consumers and Business Thursday, lawmakers reviewed testimony on recent and impending changes in the appraisal industry. One of issue of focus during the hearing was the rise of appraisal management companies and their validity and necessity in the market. According to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office, AMCs have grown from 15 percent market share to between 60 and 80 percent market share.

Mortgage servicers received new guidance Thursday addressing protocol for dealing with military members who receive permanent change of station orders. The joint guidance was released by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in concert with the Federal Reserve, FDIC, National Credit Union Administration, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. About one-third of the nation├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós military members receive non-negotiable permanent change of station orders each year, and the new servicer guidance is intended to ensure compliance with applicable consumer laws and regulations.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has issued a proposed rule that would prohibit the GSEs from purchasing loans affected by the Property Assessed Clean Energy program. PACE is a local government initiative designed to help homeowners finance energy-efficient and renewable energy projects for their homes. FHFA's proposed rule is open for comment for 45 days from its date of publication, June 15. PACE financing for energy-efficient projects is available in 18 states and the District of Columbia.

In an exclusive interview with MReport Tuesday, Marc Savitt, president of the National Association of Independent Housing Professionals, divulged his intentions to call for the resignation of Raj Date from his post as deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Following the interview, NAIHP released an official announcement calling for just that. We obtained comments from the consumer bureau countering criticism Date received for a speech Monday in which he faulted mortgage brokers for the housing crisis.

The Dodd-Frank Act fell under scrutiny at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday, with lawmakers from the right charging that the reform law will impose arbitrary rules that limit consumer choice and prevent an economic recovery. Much of the light fell on interagency efforts to finalize the controversial Volcker Rule, a rulemaking requirement under Dodd-Frank that bans short-term proprietary trading by systemically important financial institutions like Chase. Witnesses included Consumer Financial Protection Bureau chief Richard Cordray.

In what the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau called an important step in the development of our nonbank supervision program, the CFPB officially proposed a rule last week to establish procedures for the bureau's supervision of nonbank financial entities. The Dodd-Frank Act grants the CFPB authority to supervise a nonbank that "it has reasonable cause to determine is posing a risk to consumers based on complaints or other information it receives."

In its latest monthly report released Monday, Capital Economics painted a positive picture of the housing market, insisting the market has moved from bottoming-out to recovering. To those wondering whether Capital Economics' positive prophesies are merely a mirage soon to be dispersed much like the short-lived positive movement the market experienced in 2009 and 2010, the analytics firm pointed out a substantial difference between what occurred in 2009-2010 and what is occurring today.

Fitch Ratings published a report Thursday estimating that 29 global systemically important financial institutions may need to raise about $566 billion in common equity in order to satisfy new Basel III capital rules by the end of 2018. The $566 billion figure reflects a 23 percent increase relative to the institutions├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ó aggregate common equity of $2.5 trillion. Though the new Basil III rules will not be implemented until 2018, Fitch noted that the global banks will likely face market and supervisory pressure to meet those targets before then.