Banking

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, lambasted the Federal Reserve for increasing the dominance of "too big to fail" banks and failing to rein in systemic risk. He asked whether the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a better regulator than the Fed.

After falling to a 10-year low in April, credit on the market diminished further last month, with government, conforming and jumbo offerings all decreasing, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

New loan acquisitions fell to their lowest level since 2020, but companies also grew shares of residential securities noticeably over the past three years, S&P Global Market Intelligence said.

A West Virginia homeowner is suing the banking giant for charges incurred when paying by phone, claiming breach of contract and violation of consumer protection laws.

Residents in the five cities with the lowest scores have an average median credit score of 499.8 in 2022, according to WalletHub.

The work-from-home phenomenon spawned by the Covid-19 pandemic and a slowing economy are pushing tenants to cancel or not renew leases, making building owners miss loan payments.

Chatbots may provide inaccurate information, may run afoul of consumer financial protection laws and may force consumers into "repetitive loops of unhelpful jargon," the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued only 20 enforcement actions in 2022, but some observers say the enforcement numbers belie the results that director Rohit Chopra is getting from other ways of holding companies accountable.

Residents in the top five cities have an average median credit score of 800.4 in 2022, according to WalletHub.

Both loan demand and credit availability have contracted sharply, according to senior executives at several of the nation's largest banks. Their comments came against the specter of a potential recession.

When the once-ubiquitous interest rate goes away at the end of June, some businesses that have older loans may see a sudden jump in their payments. Banks, lawyers and business leaders are doing last-minute work to avoid that scenario.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said the Evansville, Indiana, installment lender had engaged in "unfair, deceptive and abusive acts and practices," and failed to reimburse interest to consumers who had cancelled certain add-on products.

The San Francisco-based bank is proactively managing its loan portfolio and working with borrowers to restructure terms with the goal of helping clients and minimizing risk, he said. 

The beleaguered bank said it is selling 74 loans totaling about $2.6 billion to a subsidiary of Kennedy-Wilson Holdings. The move is part of a plan to pursue strategic asset sales, trim expenses and shore up its balance sheet.

Some stakeholders have worried about the estimated date for the transition to a new way of calculating credit worthiness, but an official assured attendees at an industry conference that the agency won't act prematurely.

Excluding farms and residential properties, banks accounted for more than 60% of the $3.6 trillion in commercial real estate loans outstanding in the fourth quarter of 2022, with smaller institutions particularly exposed, according to the Federal Reserve's semi-annual Financial Stability Report published last week.

As part of its receivership of Signature Bank, the agency was given the stock to sell by June 8.

Lenders who have started using these have saved up to 71% compared to all hard inquiries, Blend's co-founder says.

More than 140 current and former lawmakers are defending the constitutionality of the agency's funding arrangements. The nation's highest court is expected to rule on the issue in its upcoming term.

Balances reached nearly $1 trillion at the end of the first quarter, up 17% from a year earlier. The increase reflects higher spending by well-off consumers on travel and entertainment, as well as the pressure that lower-income households are facing from inflation and higher interest rates.