Financial regulations

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed reducing supervision of all but the largest nonbanks in four key markets: auto financing, consumer credit reporting, debt collection and international money transfers.

The law, set to go into effect later this year, was introduced to prevent potential money laundering in all-cash purchases made by companies or trusts.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has withdrawn guidance that allowed states to bring enforcement actions broadly under federal consumer protection laws.

The National Treasury Employees Union told employees not to respond to the mass email asking federal workers to resign. The chief of staff at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it is reviewing the directive.

At the Most Powerful Women in Banking conference this week, New York's top banking regulator said banks need to take full responsibility for the artificial intelligence models they use, even if they bought them from a third party.

Sen. Tim Johnson, a former three-term senator and five-term U.S. representative for South Dakota, died after complications from a recent stroke.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency issued guidance to ensure the Federal Home Loan banks are lending based on the credit worthiness of the member bank, not solely on the quality of the collateral.

Four companies are fighting CFPB enforcement actions by claiming the agency cannot be funded by the Federal Reserve, which has not been profitable since 2022. The consumer bureau calls the new legal theory "meritless."

The bureau said two rules related to communications with debtors will go into effect as originally planned on Nov. 30. The agency had previously proposed an extension to consider consumer advocates' concerns about the regulations.

Regulators should create a simple liquidity formula that allows the secondary market to function rather than using depository rules as a model, writes the head of Whalen Global Advisors.

Graham Steele, a former Senate Banking Committee staffer who has supported strong regulation, was named as the administration's choice for assistant secretary of financial institutions.

Contrary to the myth perpetrated by many in Washington, IMBs do not pose any real taxpayer financial risk or systemic risk, writes the CEO of Union Home Mortgage and member of the Community Home Lenders Association.

“Federal Housing Finance Authority Director Mark Calabria’s decisions to date are conservative and imply a slow death for the GSEs and IMBs operating in the conventional market,” analyst Chris Whalen writes.

Stuck between local zoning hurdles and a lack of ideal federal financing, ADUs could be an important aspect to unlocking much-needed inventory.

The nominees, strongly backed by progressive Democrats to lead two key Wall Street watchdogs, signal that the Biden administration is planning tough oversight after four years of light-touch policies under appointees of President Trump.

Default risks soar in minority neighborhoods during challenging economic times because, data shows, homes there are overpriced relative to incomes. Zoning and other changes could make loans more affordable by boosting housing stock and driving down prices.

In an open letter, industry veteran Thomas Vartanian outlines the steps the administration can take to encourage innovation, better detect cyber threats and modernize regulation.

The agency’s final rule modernizing the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act limits calls to seven per week, but collectors won stronger protections from liability claims and other key changes to the original proposal.

A 2019 decision by Amy Coney Barrett, then a 7th Circuit judge, cited an earlier Supreme Court ruling suggesting a high bar for plaintiffs to claim harm. But other jurists have favored a less onerous standard.

The agency’s consolidation of supervision and enforcement policy into one office could compromise the independence of those deciding when to investigate alleged wrongdoing by banks and others, critics of the move say.