The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has released its 16th Annual Survey of Credit Underwriting Practices and reported that the trend of tightening underwriting standards has continued for the last three years. However, the OCC is beginning to see some easing of standards in response to competition, and a slight improvement in credit market liquidity. “Credit performance remains a concern despite several years of tightening,” said Deputy Comptroller for Credit and Market Risk Dave Wilson.Read more

John Walsh has become acting Comptroller of the Currency , succeeding John C. Dugan who completed his five-year term of office. “I am honored to have this opportunity to serve as Acting Comptroller of the Currency and lead our highly professional staff while President Obama considers his appointment of the 30th Comptroller of the Currency,” said Walsh.Read more

The federal banking agencies, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), have have agreed to publish an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (advance notice) regarding alternatives to the use of credit ratings in their risk-based capital rules (capital rules) for banking organizations.Read more

U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has announced that, when Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan leaves office on Aug. 14, John G. Walsh will become Acting Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Walsh currently serves as Chief of Staff and Public Affairs for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), a position he has held since Oct. 17, 2005. In that position, he has been engaged in all aspects of the OCC's operations.Read more

Performance on home mortgages serviced by the largest national banks and federally regulated thrifts improved earlier this year for the first time in more than two years, according to a report released by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS).Read more

The Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) have issued final guidance to ensure that incentive compensation arrangements at financial organizations take into account risk and are consistent with safe and sound practices. The guidance was originally proposed by the Federal Reserve last year. The OCC, OTS, and FDIC are joining in issuing the final version.Read more

Performance on home mortgages serviced by the largest national banks and federally regulated thrifts declined for the seventh consecutive quarter in the fourth quarter of 2009, though home foreclosures slowed and new home retention actions continued strong, according to a report released by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS).Read more

Federal action to exempt national banks from state anti-predatory lending laws resulted in more defaults and riskier lending compared to other banks, a study funded by the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia Law School found. At the same time, the study found anti-predatory lending laws enacted by some to protect consumers from abusive and unfair mortgage practices saved many people from losing their homes to foreclosure.Read more

National bank and thrift servicers implemented more than 680,000 home loan modifications and payment plans in the third quarter of 2009 to avoid preventable foreclosures, according to a report released by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). The OCC and OTS Mortgage Metrics Report for the Third Quarter 2009 showed that the number represented a nearly 69 percent increase in home retention actions from the previous quarter.Read more

The federal financial institution regulatory agencies will host a free interagency telephone seminar on Prudent Commercial Real Estate Loan Workouts (Workout Guidance) on Thursday, December 3 at 2:00 p.m. EST. Many financial institutions have expressed interest in the Workout Guidance released on Oct.Read more