The Senate voted 66-33 to have Randal Quarles remain in his role as the Federal Reserve Board’s vice chairman for supervision for an additional 10-plus years. Speaking at the American Bankers Association’s Summer Leadership Meeting in Salt Lake City the day after his latest confirmation was announced, Quarles outlined three principles that will guide his actions at the Fed.

For the second time this year and in its history, the American Bankers Association (ABA) announced that it has partnered with two state-level banking associations to produce TV commercials endorsing political officials running in the 2018 midterm elections. The move is part of ABA’s stated commitment to expanding the banking industry’s political engagement and growing bipartisan, consensus-minded, pro-banking representation in Congress.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has declared the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to be unconstitutionally structured, making it the second federal regulatory body to receive such a ruling within the past month. The ruling has meaningful implications for those advocating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to be recapitalized and released from conservatorship under the FHFA.

Marking the agency’s first time declaring a company’s practices “deceptive” since Mick Mulvaney was named acting director, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has reached a settlement with a debt collection company for misinforming consumers about debt amounts they owed. The defendants in the case have the opportunity to settle the matter for much less than the total civil money amount listed in the consent order.

A dispute with the Education Department (DOE) over its decision not to honor an agreement it entered into with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) during President Barack Obama’s administration is causing a hold up ongoing litigation against the nation’s largest student loan provider. Navient has said that it wishes to resolve the case against it but the dispute between the two government agencies is delaying that process. 

The Financial Services Roundtable and The Clearing House have fused to become the Bank Policy Institute. Its mission is to use data and analysis to promote policies and regulations that benefit its member companies’ abilities to serve their customers and clients, help drive the economy and ensure safety and soundness, according to a press release.

A man who offered original information about violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) has been granted the largest award for a whistleblower in the history of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Whistleblower Program. The award is roughly three times larger than the previous award to hold that distinction, paid in March 2016.

The leadership dispute at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has hung over the agency and the industries it regulates like a cloud of uncertainty. With Leandra English’s decision to resign as the bureau’s deputy director and drop her lawsuit against acting director Mick Mulvaney and President Donald Trump, the cloud has been lifted, but questions remain – some which may never be answered. Buckley Sandler Partner Ben Olson and Ballard Spahr Partner Alan Kaplinsky offered their takes on what her resignation means for the bureau while speaking with Dodd Frank Update.

Opening and maintaining effective lines of communication in the real estate business has proven easier said than done but it is a worthwhile endeavor according to participants in the 2018 National Settlement Services Summit session entitled “Perfecting Closings Together.” Sally Freudenberg, vice president at Wells Fargo Home and Consumer Finance Group, moderated the discussion, which featured insight from Daniel Coles, senior vice president of fulfillment enablement and program manager at Bank of America, and Tom Mace, senior manager of closing and funding operations at Flagstar Bank.