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CFPB releases new proposal to tweak January mortgage rules
Posted Date: Wednesday, June 26, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released another set of promised modifications to its January mortgage rules. The proposal addresses a broad range of topics — from loss mitigation procedures under Regulation X to the application of the CFPB’s loan originator compensation rules to bank tellers and administrative staff. The bureau said the clarifications and narrow revisions will resolve implementation issues identified by industry participants. Read on to learn about the proposed changes.
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Lack of accountability leading to overspending, mismanagement at CFPB, lawmakers claim
Posted Date: Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Republicans on the U.S House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee say the manner in which the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded has led to mismanagement at the agency. Read on to learn what lawmakers and a representative from the bureau had to say about CFPB spending during a recent budget hearing.
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CFPB amends proposed trial disclosure policy
Posted Date: Wednesday, June 26, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau revised a proposed policy intended to encourage companies to test disclosures on a trial basis. The revisions would permit companies to make adjustments throughout the disclosure trial and would also include additional consumer safeguards. Read on to learn about the proposed changes.
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Closers shouldn’t wait for final rules to prepare for CFPB’s new mortgage disclosures
Posted Date: Wednesday, June 26, 2013
It’s been almost one year since the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed rules and forms that will merge the various application and closing disclosures required under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the Truth in Lending Act. Final forms are still likely months away; however, an industry expert says settlement service providers should take action now to help smooth the transition to the forthcoming disclosures. Read on for the details and to learn what the CFPB has been up to since it released its proposed disclosures last year.
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Supreme Court to take up recess appointments case
Posted Date: Wednesday, June 26, 2013
The U.S. Supreme Court plans to review an appellate court decision that invalidated President Barack Obama’s 2012 recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board. Richard Cordray was recess appointed to his position as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the same manner as the NLRB appointees, and while Cordray is not mentioned in the case, the Supreme Court’s response could have an impact on his appointment as well.
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OCC releases community bank best practices booklet
Posted Date: Monday, June 24, 2013
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published a new booklet that shares the agency’s perspective on the best practices that distinguish high-performing community banks. Read on for a look at the contents and a link to download the booklet.
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National Mortgage Settlement report finds servicer compliance failures
Posted Date: Monday, June 24, 2013
A report issued by the monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement finds some servicers failed to comply with requirements set forth under the settlement. According to the report, Bank of America, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo all failed to adhere to certain servicing standards. Read on for the details.
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House committee approves more bills to amend Dodd-Frank
Posted Date: Monday, June 24, 2013
The U.S. House Financial Services Committee approved four bills that proponents claim will reduce the regulatory burden on job creators. Three of the bills would modify the Dodd-Frank Act. One such bill would repeal a provision requiring public companies to submit a disclosure comparing employees’ compensation to the chief executive officer’s compensation.
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Lawmakers continue to probe potential QM impact
Posted Date: Monday, June 24, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage rule has been a prime topic of debate on Capitol Hill in recent weeks. On June 18, members of the House Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee convened for the second in a series of hearings, examining the rule’s impact on the availability of mortgage credit. Read on to learn what industry participants had to say about the rule’s impact on their ability to meet their Community Reinvestment Act and fair lending obligations.
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Cyber threats, strategic risk practices high on OCC concerns list
Posted Date: Monday, June 24, 2013
Key risks facing national banks and federal savings associations involve the potential for banks to take excessive risks to improve profitability, revenue challenges from a slow economy, and a surge in sophisticated cyber threats, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency revealed in its Semiannual Risk Perspective for Spring 2013. Read on for more from the report.
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CFPB and Boston team up to create consumer hotline
Posted Date: Monday, June 24, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the City of Boston have teamed up to create a consumer hotline for Boston residents. Read on for details of the new efforts to funnel consumer concerns to the bureau.
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LO Comp questions remain after bureau finalizes QM amendments
Posted Date: Tuesday, June 18, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently finalized long-awaited amendments to its ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage rule to address outstanding issues related to the counting of loan originator compensation for the purposes of QM’s 3 percent points and fees cap. Dodd Frank Update sat down with Richard Andreano, a partner at Ballard Spahr LLP, during the 2013 National Settlement Services Summit in Cleveland to get his take on the amendments. Read on for the details.
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Swaps clearing implementation enters second phase
Posted Date: Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Banks, financial firms and other entities began clearing certain credit default swaps and interest rate swaps on June 10 as required under Dodd-Frank rules adopted by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Read on to learn about the requirements and temporary relief the CFTC provided for small bank registered issuers of securities seeking to utilize the commission’s end-user exception from required clearing.
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SEC issues second award order under Dodd-Frank whistleblower program
Posted Date: Tuesday, June 18, 2013
The Securities and Exchange Commission said it will award three whistleblowers a percentage of the money that it ultimately collects from its enforcement action against a sham hedge fund and its chief executive officer who defrauded investors out of $2.7 million. The June 12 order announcing the awards is the second such order the SEC released since implementing its Dodd-Frank whistleblower program in August 2011. Read on for the details.
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There’s a lot to like about the proposed mortgage disclosures, tech provider says
Posted Date: Tuesday, June 18, 2013
The real estate settlement services industry is anxiously awaiting the finalization of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules that will merge the various mortgage disclosures required under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the Truth in Lending Act. The new forms will take money, time and effort to implement. However, an industry expert says the forms proposed by the bureau have some specific advantages over those that are currently in use. Read on for the details, as our coverage of the 2013 National Settlement Services Summit continues.
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CFPB plans survey on credit card pre-dispute arbitration agreements
Posted Date: Tuesday, June 18, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is planning to survey credit card holders as part of a Dodd-Frank Act study of mandatory pre-dispute arbitration agreements. Read on to learn about the survey and a separate plan to establish a system of records for the CFPB’s Consumer Financial Civil Penalty Fund.
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Fed clarifies ‘push out’ provisions for foreign banks’ uninsured U.S affiliates
Posted Date: Tuesday, June 18, 2013
The Federal Reserve approved an interim final rule clarifying the treatment of uninsured U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks under Dodd-Frank’s so-called swaps push-out provisions. Section 716 of Dodd-Frank will require entities that have access to certain federal assistance to move their swaps activities to an affiliate. The rule establishes a process whereby state member banks and uninsured state branches or agencies of foreign banks may seek additional time to exit the swaps business. Read on for the details.
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‘Make A Child Smile’ charity event donates bikes to Northeast Ohio kids
Posted Date: Friday, June 14, 2013
The National Settlement Services Summit isn’t just about title industry support and improvement. It’s also about community improvement. And that’s no more evident than at the Make a Child Smile: Charity Bicycle Building Event sponsored by Winward Consulting | Software LLC. At this year’s Summit, volunteers spent an afternoon with the October Research staff assembling bicycles that will be donated to a Northeast Ohio organization named Guidestone.
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Real Estate Data Shield launches Compliance Management System at Summit
Posted Date: Friday, June 14, 2013
Real Estate Data Shield announced the launch of a web-based Compliance Management Platform for the title and settlement industry. The platform is set up so title and settlement companies can immediately access and find the tools they need to meet the data security compliance mandates of regulators, lenders and the title industry’s best practice initiatives.
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Bureau launches web page for mortgage rule implementation
Posted Date: Friday, June 14, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unveiled a web page intended to aid the mortgage industry as it works to comply with several regulations finalized earlier this year. The bureau’s new mortgage rule implementation web page consolidates the rules and related compliance guides, videos and other implementation materials all in one place. Read on for a link to the web page.
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CFPB releases report on overdraft practices
Posted Date: Friday, June 14, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a report on bank and credit union overdraft practices that raises concerns about whether consumers can anticipate and avoid overdraft costs associated with checking accounts. The report shows significant differences across financial institutions when it comes to overdraft coverage on debit card transactions and ATM withdrawals. The report also finds that consumers who opt in for overdraft coverage incur greater costs. Read on to learn about the study and how the CFPB intends to proceed from here.
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FDIC approves latest element of orderly liquidation framework
Posted Date: Friday, June 14, 2013
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. approved an important definitional rule underlying the process that would be used to determine whether a troubled company is covered under Dodd-Frank’s orderly liquidation provisions. The FDIC finalized a rule establishing criteria for determining if a company is predominantly engaged in “activities that are financial in nature or incidental thereto.” Read on for the details.
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SEC resurrects money market fund reform effort
Posted Date: Friday, June 14, 2013
The Securities and Exchange Commission unanimously voted to release a set of proposals that would change the way money market funds operate — resurrecting a reform effort the agency scuttled in 2012. The SEC’s action came after the Financial Stability Oversight Council made MMFs a key priority and signaled it would use its powers under the Dodd-Frank Act to advance a package of reforms. Read on for the details.
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Navigating the new age of lender liability will require collaboration, advocacy
Posted Date: Friday, June 14, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created a stir last April when it indicated that lenders would be held responsible for the activities of their vendors. Since then, the real estate settlement services industry has been grappling with the problem of how best to verify to lenders that agents are in compliance with applicable consumer protection laws and regulations. During the 2013 National Settlement Services Summit in Cleveland, Penny Reed, vice president, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, recommended that settlement agents engage their lender clients to address the issue head on.
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U.S. House approves derivatives cross-border, end-user bills
Posted Date: Friday, June 14, 2013
The U.S. House approved three derivatives-related bills on June 12. One bill would require the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission to adopt identical rules establishing how Dodd-Frank’s swaps provisions will apply outside of the United States. Another bill is intended to ensure that true derivatives end-users are exempt from Dodd-Frank’s margin requirements. Read on to learn about the bills.
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Summit live coverage: The ‘year of implementation’ and the one thing that will pull us out of the recession
Posted Date: Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Positivity permeated the grand ballroom of Cleveland’s Marriott at Key Center hotel as Bill Cosgrove, vice chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association and the chief executive officer of Union Home Mortgage Corp, kicked off the 2013 National Settlement Services Summit. As the housing market continues to improve, it’s becoming a key component to pulling the country out of the recession. While housing numbers are encouraging, Cosgrove cautioned that we need to ensure we have the proper mortgage industry structure in place as we continue through the “year of implementation.”
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LO Comp, servicing compliance guides released
Posted Date: Wednesday, June 12, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released the final two small entity compliance guides for its January mortgage rulemakings. The latest guides cover the bureau’s loan originator compensation and servicing rules. Read on to learn about the guides and for links to all of the guides the CFPB has released for its January rules.
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October Research announces industry award winners
Posted Date: Wednesday, June 12, 2013
October Research LLC, publisher of The Title Report, The Legal Description, Valuation Review, RESPA News and Dodd Frank Update, announced the winners in its annual awards program, launched to honor men and women in the mortgage and settlement services industries for exemplary accomplishment in the areas of leadership, innovation and philanthropy.
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Implementation timeline, costs drive mortgage disclosure debate
Posted Date: Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Title industry participants continue to speak out about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s effort to combine the mortgage disclosures required under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. Attendees at the 2013 National Settlement Services Summit in Cleveland had the opportunity to share some of their biggest concerns with a top CFPB rule maker. Read on to learn about the debate.
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ICBA sounds off on Freddie Mac low-volume fee
Posted Date: Wednesday, June 12, 2013
The Independent Community Bankers of America expressed serious concern with a Freddie Mac policy change that would require financial institutions that do not meet certain mortgage volume requirements to pay a $7,500 annual fee for low activity. The group said the fee would be unaffordable for some community banks and would limit institutions’ ability to provide mortgages to their customers.
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Trade groups critique CFPB’s new QM, servicing proposal
Posted Date: Friday, June 7, 2013
Industry participants sounded off on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed changes for two major mortgage rulemakings that were finalized earlier this year. The proposed amendments, released by the bureau on April 19, seek to address industry questions and concerns related to the CFPB’s mortgage servicing rules and the ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage rule. Read on to learn what commenters liked and disliked about the proposals.
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Groups worry QM compliance could trigger fair lending concerns
Posted Date: Friday, June 7, 2013
Several major trade groups want the government to provide written assurances that complying with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new mortgage rules won’t increase institutions’ risk of a fair lending violation. The groups said the mortgage rules will constrict credit availability and may lead to disparate outcomes for some borrowers. Read on for the details.
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Student loan servicing proposal must not hurt credit union lending, NAFCU says
Posted Date: Friday, June 7, 2013
An industry group representing the nation’s federal credit unions urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to ensure that proposed rules for nonbank student loan servicers don’t carry unintended consequences for credit union lending. Read on to learn what the National Association of Federal Credit Unions and other commenters had to say about rules that would permit the bureau to oversee “larger participants” in the student loan servicing arena.
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Industry wants more time to consider reopened SEC swaps proposals
Posted Date: Friday, June 7, 2013
Industry groups asked the Securities and Exchange Commission for additional time to comment on security-based swap rules that have yet to be finalized. The SEC voted last month to reopen the comment periods for all commission rules not yet finalized that stem from Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act. Comments are due by July 22. Read on to learn why industry participants said the comment period should be extended.
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LO Comp insights: CFPB definitions and the ‘devilish details’
Posted Date: Friday, June 7, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s loan originator compensation rule makes important changes to the Federal Reserve’s existing loan originator definition to reflect provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. The CFPB also revised and expanded existing commentary on the loan originator definition to clarify how various scenarios apply to the definition. Understanding the definitional changes and associated commentary will be important to determining who in an organization is covered under the CFPB’s rules.
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CFPB adds money transfer, credit reporting gripes to complaint database
Posted Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau expanded its Consumer Complaint Database to include complaints about money transfers and credit reporting. The bureau also announced that complaint data is now searchable by state. Read on to find out which states have the highest complaint rates for mortgages, credit cards and bank accounts.
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Banking, mortgage, credit union groups critique QM amendments
Posted Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Major trade associations representing mortgage lenders of all sizes and stripes sounded off on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s amendments to the ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage rule. The amendments include numerous provisions intended to ensure that borrowers can access loans from small creditors. However, industry participants vowed to press for further changes. Read on for the details.
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Compliance-driven hiring could lead to profitability challenges at smallest banks
Posted Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2013
New research examining the impact of regulatory costs on community banks indicates that many of the smallest institutions may run the risk of becoming unprofitable if they find it necessary to add new employees to help meet their compliance obligations. In addition to the paper, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis released a calculator allowing users to assess the impact of increased personnel costs on banks’ profitability. Read on for the details.
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CFPB releases first round of exam manuals for new mortgage rules
Posted Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released the first in a series of roadmaps its examiners will use to assess compliance with the agency’s new mortgage rules. The bureau said its exam procedures offer financial institutions and mortgage companies “valuable guidance” on what the CFPB will be looking for as the rules become effective. The first pair of manuals focuses on new requirements pertaining to appraisals, escrow accounts, and compensation and qualifications for loan originators. Read on for the details.
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LO Comp insights: Industry should follow Fed rules for now
Posted Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new loan originator compensation rule is likely better in some respects than the Federal Reserve’s existing LO Comp rule, according to attorney Donald Lampe of Dykema Gossett PLLC. However, he indicated that industry participants thinking of following parts of the CFPB’s rule instead of the Fed’s rule need to wait until the new rule takes effect in January 2014. Read on for the details.
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Inside the CFPB’s ability-to-repay final rule amendments
Posted Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized highly-anticipated amendments to the ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage rules the agency released earlier this year. The final amendments differ from the bureau’s January proposal in important respects. Read on for an in-depth look at the CFPB’s changes.
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Court weighs whistleblower retaliation claim
Posted Date: Friday, May 31, 2013
A financial strategist who said he was fired for complaining about alleged efforts to influence his published research sued his employer, claiming the company violated Dodd-Frank provisions intended to protect whistleblowers from retaliation. The company urged a federal court to dismiss the claim, arguing that because the employee did not report his concerns to the Securities and Exchange Commission, he was not a “whistleblower” for the purposes of the act’s anti-retaliation provisions. Read on to learn what the court decided.
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Lawmakers warn of potential QM fallout (Part 2)
Posted Date: Friday, May 31, 2013
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle indicated they want the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to make changes to its new ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage rule. Lawmakers recently challenged top bureau rule writers on numerous issues ranging from the rule’s 3 percent cap on points and fees for QMs to the CFPB’s ability and willingness to change the ATR/QM rule in the event it fails to function as expected when it takes effect in January 2014. Read on for the details.
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CFPB wields power to quash alleged ‘abusive’ practices for first time
Posted Date: Friday, May 31, 2013
Since the advent of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, industry participants have wondered how and when the new agency would use its Dodd-Frank-mandated authority to ban abusive acts or practices in the consumer financial marketplace. On May 29, the agency announced it is seeking to exercise this power for the first time in a case involving a Florida debt-relief company. Read on to learn what activities the company allegedly engaged in that constituted abuse in the eyes of the CFPB.
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CFPB delays compliance date for credit insurance financing prohibition
Posted Date: Friday, May 31, 2013
As expected, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule delaying the compliance date for provisions of its loan originator compensation final rule that prohibit creditors from financing premiums for credit insurance products in connection with certain mortgage loans. The provision would have taken effect on June 1 but the final rule establishes a new compliance date. Read on for the details.
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Inside the CFPB’s ability-to-repay final rule amendments
Posted Date: Friday, May 31, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized highly-anticipated amendments to the ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage rules the agency released earlier this year. The final amendments differ from the bureau’s January proposal in important respects. Read on for an in-depth look at the CFPB’s changes.
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