Government

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff ordered Bank of America to pay a significant civil penalty of $1.27 billion for fraud related to poor quality mortgages sold by Countrywide Financial Corporation, which Bank of America acquired in July 2008.

Following allegations of racial and gender discrimination at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the bureau’s director, Richard Cordray spoke before the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday.

The office of the Special Investigator General for TARP (SIGTARP) released its quarterly report on the progress and status of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Leaders at the Federal Reserve voted Wednesday to move forward with the central bank's plans to gradually cut monthly bond purchases, a sign of growing confidence that the economy is trending in a more favorable direction.

Congress Wednesday fired its latest rounds in its ever-escalating battle with the Federal Reserve, as a Republican-controlled House committee passed a reform bill aimed at making the Fed more accountable and transparent. The Fed’s has already warned of serious trouble if the nation’s top financial institution were held to formal policy regarding its ability to set interest rates.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and 13 state attorneys general announced Tuesday that obtained approximately $92 million in debt relief from Colfax Capital Corporation and Culver Capital, collectively known as “Rome Finance,” for about 17,000 U.S. service members and other consumers injured by the company’s predatory lending scheme.

As the newly sworn-in Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Julian Castro will need to perform a complicated balancing act to move the agency forward during the current unsteady recovery.

As part of its continuing effort to address nagging allegations of discrimination and subsequent backlash against whistleblowers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee will on Wednesday hear testimony from CFPB director Richard Cordray. ...

Multiple reports surfaced over the weekend that Goldman Sachs may be nearing a deal with the federal government to settle claims that it sold faulty mortgage backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to people with familiar with the negotiations. If a deal is reached it is expected to come in between $800 million and $1.25 billion. The talks were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing a rule designed to improve the availability of access to credit. The proposed rule would update the reporting requirements contained within the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and simplify the reporting process for financial institutions.