Weekly Brief: BoA Sued; SCOTUS Shortlists; Fund Fights Argentina
In the News. On the heels of a lawsuit challenging the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) recently issued Madden fix/valid when made rule, eight state attorneys general filed suit challenging a similar rule...more
In the News. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to create a new category of “seasoned” qualified mortgages; the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Office of...more
Fiat Chrysler and rival Peugeot have agreed to binding merger terms that, if approved by US and European regulators, would create a “$50 billion auto giant that would rank among the world’s largest car companies by sales”....more
In the internal battle between keeping China off balance and keeping Wall Street happy, the White House has decided once again to focus on the latter, walking back the latest tariff escalation by postponing promised...more
A couple of big-time SCOTUS opinions released yesterday will leave their mark on the financial world— First, the High Court found that internet retailers can be “required to collect sales taxes in states where they have no...more
FHFA Announces Increase in Maximum Conforming Loan Limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2017 - On November 23, 2016, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced an increase in the maximum conforming loan...more
Big American companies are awfully eager to keep the China market alive. For Disney, that means dropping $1.4 billion on a Hong Kong Disneyland upgrade. For Facebook, it means a CEO who’s picked up Mandarin and a...more
Editor's Note - Friend the Fed! As is the case every August, our federal government and regulators are hard at work, laser focused on the important issues of the day. In this regard, on August 18, the Federal Reserve...more
Tribune’s not only given a hard “no” to Gannett, but it’s got some new firepower (and capital) on its side thanks to a $70.5 million investment by Nant Capital—a group “founded by Patrick Soon-Shiong, a billionaire who has...more
In a joint release, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Treasury; Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Federal Housing Finance Agency; National Credit Union...more
The CFPB sent industry trade groups a letter on October 1, 2015 to address the approach of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) member agencies during the initial months following the implementation...more
By recently releasing yet another revised representation and warranty framework, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continued their efforts to assuage the concerns of the lending industry that a default by a borrower poses an unfair...more
The CFPB sent industry trade groups a letter on October 1, 2015 to address the approach of the FFIEC member agencies during the initial months following the implementation of the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule...more
On May 12, 2015, U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released the text of draft legislation intended to reform the regulatory framework...more
On December 1, 2014, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released a new advisory bulletin with significant implications for “all entities that sell single-family mortgage loans to [Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac] or perform...more
The depth and impact of the 2007-08 financial crisis, rooted in residential finance, have been apparent for some time. There has never been doubt that its aftermath would transform the way mortgage lending operates in the...more
On July 30, Judge Denise Cote of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the motion for partial summary judgment brought by FHFA, as conservator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. ...more
New York's Highest Court Will Review First Department Decision on RMBS Putback Statute of Limitations - On June 27, the Court of Appeals for the State of New York agreed to review the First Department's December 2013...more
While Director Cordray’s appearance at the House Financial Services Committee’s hearing on the CFPB’s fifth Semi-Annual Report yesterday was accompanied by the usual dose of political theater, his testimony did yield the...more
FMLC Publishes Response on Bail-in Powers - In response to a consultation by HM Treasury, the UK's Financial Markets Law Committee (FMLC) published a letter on June 4 relating to the bail-in powers introduced by the...more
Late last month, we commented on JP Morgan Chase’s $5.1 billion settlement with the Fair Housing Financing Agency (FHFA), as conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Wall Street Journal has since reported that JP Morgan...more