Compliance & Regulation

Senate negotiators are working on a bill that would place Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into receivership and replace them with multiple mortgage guarantors, according to sources.

Craig Phillips, a top aide to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, said his department "broadly" agrees with the FHFA plan, which would return Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the private market and provide them an explicit government guarantee.

If anyone has doubted that acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Mick Mulvaney intends to overhaul the agency, the last three days alone have put those doubts to rest.

Mick Mulvaney, the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has requested no funding from the Federal Reserve in the second quarter and instead will use reserves to fund the agency.

FHFA Director Mel Watt said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be reincorporated as private entities and the government must provide an explicit guarantee for catastrophic losses in the secondary mortgage market.

Mark Calabria, chief economist to Vice President Mike Pence, said passage of the regulatory relief bill could be delayed as policymakers deal with other items such as budget deadlines and an infrastructure bill.

Acting CFPB director Mick Mulvaney issued "a call for evidence" Wednesday seeking comment on all of the consumer agency's functions, including enforcement, supervision, rulemaking, market monitoring and education activities.

Progressives have been setting off alarm bells this week over the Senate’s bill to ease some Dodd-Frank rules, but the changes are more modest than many assume.

The Senate Banking Committee had approved Powell already in December, but a revote was necessary after the Senate adjourned for the year without finalizing his confirmation.

National Credit Union Administration Chairman Mark McWatters has not even been announced as President Trump's pick to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but his potential nomination already is uniting diverse groups in opposition.