Compliance & Regulation

Thirteen former officers and directors of New Century Financial Corp., have agreed to pay more than $90 million to settle all civil claims in a series of federal and private lawsuits stemming from the collapse of the once high flying subprime giant.

WASHINGTON — While the formation of the Financial Stability Council is meant to help regulators put an end to "too big to fail," many are wondering if the panel itself will prove too big to manage.

WASHINGTON — Senate appropriators are annoyed at the slow implementation of the government's Home Affordable Mortgage Program and want residential servicers — including the nation's megabanks — to be held accountable.

The state of the U.S. banking system has "improved significantly" since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in the fall of 2008, but lending standards remain too tight, according to Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke.

Ari Karen, a partner at the Maple Lawn, Md.-based Offit Kurman who represents financial institutions in labor and employment matters, has written an opinion piece on loan officer compensation issues.

The House of Representatives quickly passed a slimmed-down FHA reform bill Friday that appears to be an attempt to make it easier for the Senate to pass legislation before the August recess.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd and Sen. Richard Shelby, the panel's senior Republican, called on President Obama Thursday to appoint a permanent director for the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

A coalition of real estate and consumer groups is pressing federal regulators to ban the use of "private transfer fees" that require home sellers to pay a percentage of the sales price to third parties.

As loan officers who don't meet the requirements drop out of the industry, the result could be a shortage of people to take applications -- at a time when demand for refinancings is historically high.

A high ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee wants to explore ways of recouping the cost of placing the government-sponsored enterprises into conservatorships.