A capital surcharge proposed by the Fed in December for eight U.S. banks that the Financial Stability Oversight Council designated as global systemically important banks is aimed at building additional resilience and lessening the chances of an institution's failure in proportion to risks the institution poses to the broader U.S. economy.
Read More »Witnesses at House Committee Hearing Testify of Dodd-Frank’s Adverse Effects
The hearing, titled "Dodd-Frank Five Years Later: Are We More Stable?" was the first in a series of three full Committee hearings to examine the impact Dodd-Frank has had on American consumers and the country's financial system and economy since President Obama signed it in to law in July 2010. The focus of Thursday's hearing was on how the 400 new regulations enacted in the 2,300-page law is a threat to the country's financial stability.
Read More »Lawmakers Debate ‘Too Big to Fail’ and Criteria for ‘Systemically Important’ Tag
Some members of the Subcommittee contended at the hearing that Dodd-Frank is codifying "too big to fail" by continuing to designate firms (both banks and non-banks) as SIFIs, therefore guaranteeing those firms a federal backstop should a financial crisis occur.
Read More »Monitor Credits Chase With $3.3 Billion in Relief Toward Settlement Obligation
The report released Thursday includes Chase's self-reported gross consumer relief and the amount of consumer relief credit the bank claimed for the first quarter of 2015, an amount that has not yet been validated by Smith. According to Chase's internal review group, the bank provided 6,671 borrowers with an additional $2.31 million in creditable consumer relief during the first quarter of 2015.
Read More »Mortgage REITs Have Experienced Strongest Growth Since Recession
Residential mREITs have been forced to find alternatives in order to maintain target dividends, due to the current environment of margin compression with high-yielding bonds replaced with lower-yielding securities while the cost of funding has stayed the same, according to KBRA. The Agency believes that mREITs have two choices in the situation—increasing leverage or diversification.
Read More »Agencies Publish Annual List of Nonmetropolitan Distressed and Underserved Areas
The Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) have made available their annual list of non-metro areas where revitalization or stabilization activities will receive consideration as community development under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).
Read More »Freddie Mac Offering Four NPL Pools Totaling $624 Million in UPB
FHFA, Freddie Mac's conservator, stated in its 2014 Report to Congress released in June that "FHFA's expectation is that the sale of seriously delinquent loans through non-performing loan sales will result in more favorable outcomes for borrowers, while also reducing losses to the Enterprises, and, therefore, to taxpayers."
Read More »HUD Announces Final Rule to Further Fair Housing In HUD-Funded Communities
The final rule is the result of recommendations of a 2010 report from the Government Accountability Office; stakeholders and HUD program participants who had asked for clarification, technical assistance, better compliance, and more meaningful outcomes; and feedback from significant public input and comments received during the final rule's development.
Read More »Credit Availability Index Declines, Indicating Tightening Lending Standards
The Total MCAI, which was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012, declined by 0.5 percent in June down to 122. The Conventional MCAI experienced the greatest decline in June (by 1.0 percent since May) out of the four component indices of the Total MCAI.
Read More »House Subcommittee to Hold Hearing On Banks Designated as ‘Systemically Important’
"Since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, there has been much discussion by members of Congress, regulators, and academic experts related to the designation and regulatory standards for bank holding company SIFIs," the Committee wrote in a memorandum about Wednesday's hearing.
Read More »