Compliance

While President-elect Donald Trump already faces numerous potential conflicts-of-interest between his businesses and the presidency, his real estate ties and campaign promises raise serious questions about his approach to the housing industry.

Mortgage bankers are anxiously waiting to see who President-elect Donald Trump will pick as the next Treasury secretary. Several prominent names have been floated for the job, though with every passing day, a new possible choice seems to pop up. Following is a look at the current crop of candidates and their chances.

Many big banks are backing away from the retail channel and FHA lending due to rising compliance costs. But U.S. Bank Home Mortgage President Tom Wind sees an opportunity to leverage those challenges to improve efficiency and transparency.

John Allison, a contender for President-elect Donald Trump's Treasury secretary, is a staunch opponent of the Federal Reserve Board, the Basel international accords, the government's support of the housing finance industry and the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010.

With the election of Donald Trump in the U.S. and an increasingly isolationist mood pervading European banking regulators, the international Basel III accords that underpinned much of the global post-crisis regulatory framework face an uncertain future.

The election results will only intensify factors making competition with bank lenders more difficult, including the effect of interest rates as well as the regulatory environment.

Tom Wind is once again leading a large bank's mortgage operation. As the new president of U.S. Bank Home Mortgage, he's set a course that embraces retail, regulation and the FHA.

The Pennsylvania company has redoubled its outreach to low- and moderate-income consumers by partnering with Operation Hope on a down payment assistance program and naming a veteran banker to the newly created post of director of fair and responsible banking. But despite these efforts, history says Fulton is unlikely to escape punishment if the Justice Department finds that it violated fair-lending laws.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's choice to raise conforming loan limits in 2016 for the first time in a decade is being met with enthusiasm from the mortgage industry, as it should prove to be a positive for future origination volume.

The maximum baseline conforming loan limit in 2017 is being increased to $424,100 by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Former BB&T Chief Executive John Allison is a late entrant on a short-list for the job of U.S. Treasury secretary, according to two people familiar with President-elect Donald Trump's selection process.

The multifamily lending caps for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will stay the same as they were in 2016 next year, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced.

The transition team for President-elect Donald Trump announced a series of names this week for people who will help facilitate an orderly transfer of power at the federal financial regulators.

Employees at the Office of Financial Research have raised concerns about racial discrimination and dysfunction at the agency, according to internal documents and videos posted online.

The pending purchase of Carlile Bancshares will lower Independent's concentration in commercial real estate, while introducing the company to fast-growing markets in Texas and Colorado.

President-elect Donald Trump said in a tweet Tuesday that he is considering Dr. Ben Carson — one of his opponents in the Republican primary — to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

If President-elect Donald Trump selects House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling as his Treasury secretary, it would be a clear sign that he intends to embrace a more traditional Republican agenda when it comes to financial services issues.

Ally Financial has agreed to pay $52 million to settle probes and claims related to its role as the underwriter for subprime mortgage-backed securities in 2006 and 2007.

Personal information for roughly 480,000 people was exposed in two separate privacy incidents earlier this year involving the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's website.

Shortage of appraisers in rural areas and compensation issue force lawyers to re-consider restrictions on communications between lenders and appraisers.