Banking

Bringing together professionals from all spokes of the real estate industry in one location always has been the focus of the National Settlement Services Summit (NS3).

For the 2018 installment, keynote speaker Alessandro DiNello, president and CEO of Flagstar Bank, brought to the podium the perspective of an industry leader who has worn a number of different hats throughout his career.

From a regulatory perspective to technology and all points in between, find out how DiNello and his company successfully navigated a gauntlet of obstacles and are now thriving. 

A proposed rule that would ease capital requirements for global systemically-important banks (GSIBs) has run into staunch opposition from community bankers who argue that doing so would create greater risk of a financial crisis with far-reaching consequences.

The rule, proposed jointly by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, would recalibrate the Fed board’s enhanced supplementary leverage ratio (eSLR) standards applicable to GSIBs and their insured depository institution subsidiaries.

Find out what the rule’s opponents are saying about rolling back standards introduced in 2013 to address the problem of too-big-to-fail financial institutions.

Legislation to require the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to provide useful guidance in a timely fashion has gained a significant amount of industry supports as it awaits action by the House Financial Services Committee.

If enacted, H.R. 5534, known as the “Give Useful Information to Define Effective” (GUIDE) Compliance Act, would amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act to place certain guidance requirements on the bureau when it proposes a rule.

Find out more details about the measure, which has garnered a wealth of industry backing.

The agencies comprising the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council have replaced their 21-year-old revised policy statement on “Interagency Coordination of Formal Corrective Action by the Federal Bank Regulatory Agencies” with a new one designed to ensure ongoing coordination between the banking regulators. 

Concurrently, the agencies announced that the revised policy statement covering interagency coordination dated Feb. 20, 1997 has been rescinded.

Read on to learn what this means for enforcement proceedings and more.

A report on the economic well-being of U.S. households in 2017 released by the Federal Reserve shows improved financial conditions among individuals of all education levels over the past five years. However, the report also indicates that approximately 40 percent of Americans were ill-equipped to cover an unexpected expense of $400 or more.

About 5 percent of consumers indicated that they would consider taking out a payday loan to cover such an expense, whereas 43 percent said they would put the debt on a credit card and 26 percent said they’d borrow from friends or family.

Find out more about the report’s findings, and how one association representing payday lenders interpreted the data.

Alleging that he repeatedly placed illegal trades using confidential information, the Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged an investment bank employee with engaging in insider trading.

The trades the employee made approximately $140,000 from trades he initiated in advance of deals for which the bank was providing investment advisory services.

Find out more about the charges and what is being required of the defendant.

The American Bankers Association (ABA) Foundation recently commemorated World Elder Abuse Awareness Day by announcing the release of a free guide to help banking professionals quell the efforts of those seeking to exploit seniors financially.

The ABA Foundation and OrgWide Services consulted with government agencies, law enforcement agencies, banks of varying sizes and banking trade associations in developing the new guide.

Read on to learn more details about the guide.

The five federal regulators have proposed numerous changes to the Volcker Rule intended to reduce compliance burdens for financial entities.

By eliminating or modifying requirements the agencies believe are unnecessary to effectively implement the rule’s provisions, regulators hope to streamline it without diminishing the safety and soundness of banking entities.

Find out details about what the regulators are proposing to change and what impact the proposal could have on the industry.

Flagstar Bank will acquire 52 Wells Fargo bank branches throughout the Midwest with approximately $2.3 billion in deposits and $130 million in loans, along with certain related assets, the companies announced Tuesday. The acquisitions will more than double Flagstar’s customer base once finalized.

The purchase includes 33 branches in Indiana, 14 in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, four in Wisconsin and one in Ohio. 

Read on to learn more details what both companies are saying about the transaction.

There are a variety of questions the financial industry may have regarding what states can and cannot do in terms of supervising the financial marketplace, a task which, historically, has fallen mainly to federal regulators.

Buckley Sandler Partner Jonice Gray Tucker broke down what state attorneys general may be able to do to ramp up their enforcement activity in the financial space while speaking with Dodd Frank Update.

Find out what authority states have to invoke federal statutes and combine efforts with other states to go after regional and national financial companies, as well as how preemption and visitorial powers factor into such cases.