Taylor noted there are two current bills in Congress—one in the House (the Financial Institution Bankruptcy Act of 2015) and one in the Senate (the Taxpayer Protection and Responsible Resolution Act), which he called "essential" for ending government bailouts.
Read More »Fed Likely to Raise Rates By Year’s End If ‘Economy Evolves’ As Expected
In both hearings, Yellen addressed the subject of the much-anticipated federal funds range increase; Thursday before the Senate Banking Committee, she reiterated that more economic improvement, particularly in the labor market, is needed along with confidence that the objective of 2 percent inflation can be met over the medium term. She said the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) would determine on a meeting-by-meeting basis if progress toward that goal is sufficient enough to raise the rates.
Read More »Senate Banking Committee Questions CFPB Director On Bureau’s Oversight
"We are accountable to this Congress in numerous ways that are in our statute," Cordray said at the hearing. "The GAO (Government Accountability Office) does a regular audit of our expenses and expenditures each year, which is not common to federal agencies. We are subject to an independent audit also by our statute."
Read More »Congressional Hearings to Cover Economy, Monetary Policy, and Agencies’ Activities
On Wednesday, July 15, the House Financial Services Committee will receive the testimony of Fed Chair Janet Yellen in a full Committee hearing titled "Monetary Policy and the State of the Economy." Chair Yellen will update the Committee on the progress of the economy toward meeting the four benchmarks for the economy as set by the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act (Humphrey Hawkins) Act of 1978.
Read More »CFPB Director Cordray to Testify In Full Senate Banking Committee Hearing July 15
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.
Read More »Democratic Senators Call For Investigation of Possible Discrimination in REO Maintenance
The Senators cited a recent report by the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) which alleged that REO properties in minority-dominated neighborhoods were more than twice as likely to have deficiencies such significant amounts of trash and debris, and unsecured, broken, or damaged doors than REO properties in predominantly white neighborhoods.
Read More »Lawmakers Request More Transparency From FHFA On Transfer of Credit Risk
U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner (D-Virginia), Bob Corker (R-Tennessee), Heidi Heitkamp (D-North Dakota), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jon Tester (D-Montana), and Dean Heller (R-Nevada) sent a letter to the FHFA Director Mel Watt, requesting for clarity in risk sharing transactions to help drive competition in the secondary mortgage market.
Read More »House, Senate Democrats Introduce Bill To Provide Regulatory Relief, Consumer Protection
New legislation will also allow banks and credit unions that have less than $10 billion in assets relief from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Qualified Mortgage rule, the committee members said. This will exempt certain loans from its requirements as long as these intuitions do not sell or securitize those loans.
Read More »Senate Banking Committee Approves Financial Regulatory Relief Bill
One provision of the bill prohibits increases in guarantee fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to offset losses or reductions in revenue, or for any other purpose besides business functions for the GSEs or housing finance reform. The bill also prohibits the sale of Treasury-owned senior preferred shares in the GSEs without approval from Congress.
Read More »Report: Senator Drafting Proposal to Reform Federal Reserve
Senator Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) has reportedly included in the draft of the legislation a provision that would make the appointment of the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York subject to Senate approval. Currently, the president of each of the 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks is selected by a search committee and subject to approval of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
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