Compliance & Regulation

As new foreign bank regulations push financial institutions to shed risk-weighted assets, companies like Barclays and RBS are reducing their roles in the mortgage-backed securities market. But reduced competition in this sector is bad for liquidity.

Fannie Mae has priced what it expects will be its final fixed severity deal.

Freddie Mac is expanding its risk-sharing efforts meant to protect taxpayers and potentially prepare the $9.4 trillion U.S. home-loan market for its future.

Credit Suisse Group is seeking to sell almost $300 million of notes tied to mortgage-insurance policies written by an American International Group Inc. unit, offering investors a new way to profit from a reviving U.S. housing market.

The efforts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders to claw back the value of their investments by suing the U.S. Treasury have not elicited much support on Capitol Hill.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling is planning to push legislation that would rein in the Federal Reserve Board.

Steven Antonakes, the No. 2 official at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is resigning from the agency, according to an internal agency memo.

Incorporating bill and rental payment data into consumer credit scores would be a boon for underserved Americans. New legislation in Congress could help credit reporting agencies realize this goal.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's massive collection of consumer data continued to raise concerns with lawmakers on Wednesday despite assurances from the agency's director that the data is anonymized.

Three Democratic members of Congress called on the Department of Housing and Urban Development to reissue the proposal for public comment with changes.