People ask why lenders aren't lending? The real question is why lenders are lending at all given undefined regulations.
Barney Frank
Here are the latest bank capital rule statements from FDIC, Fed, and OCC.
ZeroHedge ran a post from OfTwoMinds today with eight steps to fix the economy. Among the recommendations are requiring all banks to mark MBS, real estate and all other assets to market daily/weekly and imposing massive fines for mark-to-market misrepresentations. Doing so would mean writing off at least $5.8 trillion of fantasy “value,” most of
The mortgage mess and great recession here in the U.S. led to a great deal of additional banking regulation. Regulations are made by people who usually do not have enough awareness of long-term consequences, so nobody really knows how these regulations will impact banking, the mortgage business, and the economy. And on an international scale,
The mortgage mess and great recession here in the U.S. led to a great deal of additional banking regulation. Regulations are made by people who usually do not have enough awareness of long-term consequences, so nobody really knows how these regulations will impact banking, the mortgage business, and the economy. And on an international scale,
Just attended the MBA’s Secondary Marketing conference. The mood was decidedly upbeat. It seemed well attended with the usual array of investors such as Fannie, Freddie, Wells, Bank of America, Chase, CitiMortgage, PHH, SunTrust, and so forth, along with the usual cadre of vendors. There was definitely a hint that: (a) firms are still grappling
On the eve of being enacted, in a surprise move, Senator Dodd called on Congress to rescind the Dodd-Frank legislation, saying the rules and regulations not only has ground residential lending to a halt, but has, and will, also cost the consumer billions of dollars. “The other night it just ‘clicked’ that all of this
This Friday, April 1 is Finreg implementation day for the mortgage industry. What bank lobbyists sold to Dodd and Frank as consumer protection is a clever way to increase profits: the new rules change almost nothing about banks’ secondary market and trading operations, and mandate a new loan agent compensation model that gives banks the
Here’s a good primer on the Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM) regulatory initiative that requires loan originators to retain at least 5% of any mortgages they securitize so they have some skin in the game. Interestingly, some mortgage banks are cutting QRM deals now where they’re retaining more like 8% of their holdings, and in some
Now that the dust has settled from the election, what did it all mean for the mortgage consumer? Historically Republicans are reputed to be more “pro-business”. Republicans may try to rein in regulators implementing a sweeping overhaul of financial rules and press for a smaller federal role in the mortgage market. This will be interesting,
For those who don’t truly know what’s going on with financial reform, we offer this simple analogy using beloved movie The Hangover. While the market has been shaking off its post credit boom hangover with a new credit boom (hair of the dog is the best cure, right?), Senator Chris Dodd drafted financial reform legislation
Half of Nation’s 7800 Credit Unions Reported 2009 Losses The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) approved a $1 billion charge to pay for the corporate credit union bailout. This follows last year’s charge of $1.1 billion, $337 million of which went to the corporate bailout and the remainder to replenish reserves for the National Credit
Why Rates Won’t Rise On March 31, Problem 2nd Mortgages, FDIC’s To Auction $1b In Failed Bank Assets
Often I start the commentary off saying something witty, but I couldn’t think of anything clever so I thought I’d suggest you take a look at this video about seat belts (also embedded below). It is making the rounds, and with good reason. Why Rates Won’t Rise On March 31 The Federal Reserve has a
On the possibility of Fannie and Freddie going away, one clever rep wrote to me and asked, “Do we really need FNMA, FHA, and FHLMC when it is all government run anyway? They could start a new entity named “Federally Regulated Committee to Normalize Mortgage Securities”, or “FRCNMS” – pronounced “FRICKEN MESS”. IRS Definition of
Replace Fannie/Freddie? In the current environment, the government giveth, and the government taketh away. Barney Frank once again made headlines last week with the statement that the House Financial Services Committee will recommend doing away with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and “rebuilding the U.S. housing-finance system from scratch”. “A whole new system of housing
Below are key excerpts from the full transcript of Obama’s 12/12/09 response to the House reform bill. Also today, Obama hosted executives of the biggest financial firms at the White House and said big banks owed an “extraordinary commitment” to help rebuild a sustaining recovery after the government assistance they got. He also said that
