Regulatory relief

The industry’s biggest legislative victory in a decade made it to the finish line Thursday.

The bill passed by the House took a more cautious approach to relief than prior legislative proposals but has still been hailed by banking industry groups.

Reducing unnecessary compliance burdens will pave the way for economic growth, larger job creation and wage increases, and re-evaluating technology will play an important role in doing so, according to Craig Phillips, counselor to the secretary at the Department of the Treasury.

JPMorgan Chase has largely sat on the sidelines of Federal Housing Administration lending due to compliance concerns. But recent regulatory relief efforts have Chase Home Mortgage CEO Mike Weinbach eyeing an opportunity to jump back in.

The increased regulatory burden created by the Dodd-Frank Act restricted bank residential lending in 2017, especially when it came to non-qualified mortgages, according to an American Bankers Association survey.

A provision to remove new mortgage recordkeeping requirements would help overburdened community banks lend without disrupting data collection that is used to police discrimination.

The soon-to-be-retiring chair of the House Financial Services Committee said Senate leaders have made a "commitment" to consider more changes.

After months of delay, the House is planning to vote on legislation next week that would amend the Dodd-Frank Act.

Banking and mortgage groups are asking the Federal Communications Commission to issue new Telephone Consumer Protection Act rules that would make consumer lawsuits over robocalls harder to win.

House Republicans are continuing to push the Senate to add more measures to a bill to give regulatory relief to community banks.