Senate Banking Committee

A mishmash of lawmakers from different parties and committees are wading into the aftermath of Equifax’s megabreach, with some using it to advance their policy agendas while others are calling for possible criminal prosecution.

The discounts that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac used to offer large originators for selling them bulk bundles of mortgages continue to haunt small lenders, who worry a new housing finance system could revive the practice.

House and Senate lawmakers formally filed resolutions on Thursday to repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's arbitration rule, but there were early signs that enacting them may prove challenging.

Senate Banking Committee leaders are hoping to pass the bill quickly ahead of a looming deadline of Sept. 30 when the program expires.

The renewed debate on reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is focused on how small and midsize banks would be affected.

The Main Street GSE Reform Coalition offered three principles: creating a capital buffer for Fannie and Freddie, continuing with reforms by their regulator and ending the conservatorship that began in 2008.

The Senate is set to begin teeing up housing finance reform discussions at a Banking Committee hearing on Thursday, but many are skeptical that Congress will be able to succeed where it has failed in the past.

Senators on both sides of the aisle paid lip service Thursday to giving relief to community banks and credit unions, but didn't appear closer to specifics of what would be in a bill.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo acknowledged Thursday that a broad Dodd-Frank relief package is likely out of reach, but said targeted reforms could still pass.