Compliance & Regulation

A senior regulator said banks must better align capital buffers with commercial real estate concentrations, and he recommended a smaller role for auditors in setting loan-loss reserves.

What’s a sure-fire way for the White House to win the hearts and minds of voters? Answer: If a consumer has a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac mortgage the government can wave a magic wand and reduce his 6% loan down to a market rate of 4%. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

Senate Democrats largely supported the idea of appointing Elizabeth Warren as the temporary head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with one key exception — Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd — who joined Republicans in arguing such a move would be a "mistake."

CoreLogic and Blueberry Systems have formed a partnership to offer fraud prevention technology to lenders and servicers.

The White House is considering appointing Elizabeth Warren as interim head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, bypassing a likely Senate confirmation battle, according to sources.

FACTS On August 30, 2010 JOSEPH ANTHONY VELTRE, 68, of Orange, Calif., was sentenced to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing more than $2.6 million from investors in a Ponzi and real estate fraud scheme. He preyed on mostly elderly investors, soliciting their money for borrowers seeking funds from non-bank lenders.

Grapevine users discuss the repercussions of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct rules. One reader is encouraging others to sign a petition to reverse HVCC because, he says, "it is bad for the market."

Michael Barr, assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions, and Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, will testify before the House Financial Services Subcommittee Wednesday regarding the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Giuseppe Cracchiolo, 60 of Romeo, Mich., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Paul D. Borman to “a federal information” that charges him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Kenneth M. Donohue, Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is leaving the agency in October after more than eight years of service.