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

Federal agencies have issued final rules requiring residential mortgage loan originators who are employees of national and state banks, savings associations, Farm Credit System institutions, credit unions, and certain of their subsidiaries (agency-regulated institutions) to meet the registration requirements of the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (SAFE Act).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

Flagstar Bancorp Inc., the holding company of Flagstar Bank, has announced that the company has raised $300 million of capital  through a previously announced rights offering, which closes on Feb. 8, 2010. In addition, Flagstar has announced that Todd McGowan has joined as chief risk officer and that James A. Ovenden has been elected to the board of directors and appointed to its audit committee. The company also announced that it has entered into agreements with the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) to address certain banking issues identified by the OTS.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

The Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) is on the way and its gestation stage will not be as long as many expect.¹ Although its nascence will endure the inevitable crucible of politics churned out by the Congress, federal and state regulatory bodies, bank and non-bank industry lobbyists, and eminent legal scholars,² the actors in this drama seem to argue, at one extreme, for a CFPA with robust oversight and regulatory enforcement authorities, and, at the other extreme, some kind of oversight agency that reviRead more

Eight federal regulatory agencies have released a final model privacy notice form that will make it easier for consumers to understand how financial institutions collect and share information about consumers. Under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB Act), institutions must notify consumers of their information-sharing practices and inform consumers of their right to opt out of certain sharing practices.Read more