Last week, members of the Senate Banking Committee announced that they had reached bipartisan agreement on “legislative proposals to improve our nation’s financial regulatory framework and promote economic growth.” ...more
Last month, a bipartisan group of 70 senators were signatories to a letter sent to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray urging the CFPB to “carefully tailor its regulations to match the unique...more
Regulatory Developments - SEC Issues FAST Act IM Guidance - The SEC published an IM Guidance Update highlighting two exemptions from registration under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the Advisers Act) that...more
On September 21, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) released final and revised versions of mortgage rules regarding small creditors. These changes should ease lenders’ ability to originate qualified mortgages...more
Why it matters - Five years after the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, efforts on Capitol Hill seek to continue to turn back many of its regulatory restrictions. Sen. Richard...more
Wednesday, the following four CFPB-related bills were passed by the House Financial Services Committee: H.R. 3192, the “Homebuyers Assistance Act”: The bill would provide a hold harmless period for the TILA/RESPA Integrated...more
For more than two decades, each and every Congress has considered and adopted wide-ranging financial services legislation that has significantly altered the legal and regulatory landscape governing financial institutions in...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
Around 34% of all loan officers responding to a Fed survey indicated the CFPB’s Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage Standards under the Truth in Lending Act (the ATR/QM rule) makes it more difficult to get conforming...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
In This Issue: - RECENT CASES ..Preemption ..CFPB Involvement in Litigation ..CFTC Regulation of Retail Commodity Transactions ..Durbin Amendment ..Appraiser Disclosure Requirements Under...more
On February 7, 2014, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published a 232-page Mortgage Banking component to the Comptroller’s Handbook, its primary source of guidance for national banks and federal savings...more
Final Rules Implementing the Volcker Rule - On December 10, the Fed, CFTC, FDIC, OCC and SEC issued final rules to implement Section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Act (the Volcker Rule), which prohibit insured depository...more