Loan Think

Bankers hope that new tax policy will respect the role of tax-assisted community development programs in encouraging business investment in distressed areas.

Customer outreach is far from the actual core function of bank marketers: producing bottom-line results.

The current partisan war over the Dodd-Frank Act is just one dispute in a broader ideological divide about the government’s role in industry.

Under the Trump administration, the challenge for the industry is to find the proper balance between supporting post-financial crisis regulations that have worked well and campaigning for reform efforts that have been ineffective.

With the new administration and eventual new leadership of the regulatory agencies, banks’ calculus that agreeing to consent orders is usually the right course is potentially changing.

As banking leaders gain a more substantial policymaking role, they will have a greater impact if they stake out a clear position in favor of regulations that protect investors and depositors.

The trend of embracing risk-based pricing in conventional mortgage fees and loan-level pricing should be reversed. Instead, credit risk should be pooled to ensure all creditworthy families have access to their American dreams.

Any amendments to the current regulatory framework must preserve banking regulation and supervision’s vital role in the proper functioning of our economy.

Economic growth and lasting positive change within the mortgage industry require carefully considered strategy and close analysis of potential scenarios, not hastily-conceived executive orders.

The mortgage lending industry may not yet be ready to share the market with marketplace lenders, but their choices are slim: Either get on board or get out of the way.