Risk Retention

President Donald Trump has vowed to end the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, drawing concerns and criticism from some lawmakers about the lack of details about how the administration plans on doing so and the potential impact to the mortgage market and the broader financial system. Read on »

The Federal Reserve recently entered into an enforcement agreement with the holding company for an Ohio-based bank, citing deficiencies in the organization’s operations, management oversight, investment policies, risk management practices, liquidity management and capital maintenance practices.  Read on »

Citing apparent oversights in the supervision of one of three banks to fail in March, the Federal Reserve’s Office of Inspector General scrutinized multiple aspects of the bank examiners’ approach in a detailed report, which could serve as a cautionary tale concerning the implications of lackluster supervisory approaches.

The report highlights a series of supervisory shortcomings with respect to Silicon Valley Bank, pointing to internal documents describing meetings in which supervisors shared their findings and proposed actions to be taken.

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FINRA has issued a regulatory notice to remind member firms about the scope of broker-dealer chief compliance officer (CCO) supervisory liability under FINRA rules.

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A group of financial services trade associations recently wrote federal regulators to comment on potential changes to the qualified residential mortgage (QRM) status.

The Dodd-Frank Act created QRM loans, which were intended to have standards for credit risk retention which originators must meet to have a loan earn QRM status and the safe harbor protections which go along with it.

Read on for details of the associations’ request to federal regulators.

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The financial industry has been afforded the first month of 2020 to weigh in on a mandatory review of the risk retention mortgage (QRM) final rule, finalized in 2014 in accordance with the Dodd-Frank Act.

Stakeholders also are encouraged to suggest potential changes to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Qualified Mortgages definition, which is aligned with the QRM standard.

Learn more details about what the review will entail.

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The Federal Reserve recently finalized rules establishing a tailored framework for regulations applying to domestic and foreign banks.

The rules are designed to more closely match institutions’ risk profiles, reducing compliance requirements for firms with less risk while maintaining the most stringent requirements for the largest and most complex institutions.

Get more details about the implications of the newly finalized rules.

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The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) has been in the middle of several clashes between credit unions and community banks over the years centering on proposals intended to ease regulatory burdens faced by entities under its purview.

In response to its recent proposal to delay implementation of its 2015 and 2018 risk-based capital (RBC) rules by one year (to Jan. 1, 2022), advocates for both segments of the financial sector wrote to the agency urging it to take different actions going forward.

Learn more about arguments on both sides.

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Numerous financial trade organizations are hailing the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) recent proposal for reforming the housing finance system as further evidence of what they long have contended: the secondary mortgage market should incorporate private capital.

The FHFA recently published a report entitled, “Federal Housing Finance Agency Perspectives on Housing Finance Reform,” proposing that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be reincorporated as private entities. FHFA Director Mel Watt also wrote to the Senate Banking Committee, detailing his views on the matter. 

Find out which recommendations the agency outlined closely align with proposals published by the financial industry. 

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Having long contended that conservatorship for the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) is unsustainable, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt recently testified to the Senate Banking Committee about actions he feels need to take place to work toward reforming the housing finance market. Read on to find out what he and members of the committee had to say about the issues facing the agency and Congress regarding the matter.  Read on »