Government

Section 622 of Dodd-Frank, implemented by the Board's Regulation XX, prohibits a merger between two financial companies or one financial company from acquiring another if the resulting merged company's liabilities exceed 10 percent of the aggregate financial sector liabilities.

The newspaper has asked the Court to remove the protected information tag from the depositions of Edward DeMarco, who was the director of the Federal Housing Finance Administration from 2009 to 2014, and Mario Ugoletti, who was a senior official with the U.S. Department of Treasury in 2008 when the government bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at a combined price of $187.5 billion.

The Bureau reported as of June 1, 2015, it has handled more than 627,000 complaints from the time it opened its doors in July 2011. According to the CFPB, about 28 percent of those complaints have been mortgage-related, making it the category with the largest share (debt collection was second with 25 percent). The Bureau says it forwards the complaints to companies and works to get a response, typically within 15 days.

In the last couple of weeks, the CFPB has been under fire for alleged discrimination against its employees and subsequent retaliation against the whistleblowers. Two of the whistleblowers testified last week in a subcommittee hearing in the House Financial Services Committee.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), the Academic Experts in Financial Regulation (AEFR), and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce all filed briefs backing the New York-based global insurance provider's attempt to remove the SIFI tag.

According to the OCC, compliance risks remain high as banks are preparing to comply with new mortgage lending requirements, particularly those in the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule. The rule is scheduled to be implemented on August 1, but the CFPB has proposed the effective date to be pushed back to October 3.

Witnesses who testified at the hearing were Robert Cauldwell, President of the National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 335 and CFPB Examiner, and Florine Williams, Senior Equal Employment Specialist of the CFPB's Office of Civil Rights. Cauldwell went as far as to say the word "allegations" should be removed from the title of the hearing, because "discrimination and retaliation against CFPB employees is a fact."

According to a press release from the committee, this action will make $55.65 billion in funds available for consideration by the Senate, a $1.88 billion increase from FY2015 and $7 billion below the amount the President Obama requested. The legislation provides $37.56 billion for HUD specifically, an increase of nearly $2 billion above the FY2015 enacted level and $3 billion below the President’s request.

Judge Gloria Navarro ruled in the case of Skylights LLC v. Byron that federal law prohibited a state-law HOA foreclosure from extinguishing a first deed of trust that is guaranteed by one of the government-sponsored enterprises.

In April, the Five Star Institute (FSI) and Black Knight Financial Services (BKFS) released a report titled "Analysis and Study of CFPB Consumer Complaint Data Related to Mortgage Servicing Activities,” that addressed the concern that the complaints do not provide a full picture of the mortgage servicing industry.