The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged banks

What’s Next for the CRA?

By | 01.18.10 | 6:00 am

foreclosure-new-house

An ambitious plan to update the Carter-era Community Reinvestment Act that supporters hope to see signed into law in 2010 comes amid charges that this legislation was responsible for nothing less than the subprime crisis and the resulting collapse of the residential real estate market.

The plan, sponsored by More…

By Not Losing, Bank Lobbyists Won — With Help From Their Democratic Friends

By | 12.16.09 | 9:14 am

Bloomberg takes a hard look at the lobbying fight over financial regulatory overhaul and concludes that despite last week’s passage of a financial regulatory overhaul package by the House, the banks won — simply by not losing as badly as they once thought they might.  Their aggressive lobbying More…

Maybe Obama Should Scold the New Democrats, Rather than Bankers, Over Financial Reform

By | 12.15.09 | 9:20 am

President Obama’s attempts to shame top bankers on Monday did little to make anyone think lending will suddenly flow freely and financial institutions will quit lobbying to undermine regulatory reform. And the fact that three of the nation’s top bankers literally phoned it in from New York because of early More…

The Latest Loopholes in Financial Regulatory Reform

By | 12.11.09 | 9:27 am

Today’s loophole alert regarding financial reform comes from The Wall Street Journal, which points out that USAA, an insurer that serves military families, quietly won an exemption from tougher provisions proposed as part of a massive regulatory overhaul bill. And that’s not to mention General Electric Co. and Pitney More…

White House Loan Modification Plan Falls Flat

By | 12.10.09 | 1:54 pm

It was last December when Julio Angulo ignored the bitter cold and sat on a rusted patio chair in the front yard of his foreclosed home in suburban Manassas, Va. He sighed, resting his hand on his knee. He stared despondently at the sky. His lender had foreclosed on his More…

FHA to Tighten Lending Standards as Defaults Rise

By | 12.02.09 | 9:27 am

On the heels of our report detailing short-sale flipping and other kinds of mortgage fraud that are on the rise, the Federal Housing Administration plans to announce it will tighten lending standards to try to stem rising defaults.

The Washington Post reports Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun More…

Banks, Homeowners and the Battle Over ‘Too Big to Fail’

By | 10.26.09 | 9:25 am

It’s a big day for banks: The Obama administration is expected to unveil new “too big to fail” proposals for dealing with troubled financial giants, Reuters reports. The proposals would “give the government the power to dismantle large financial companies that get into crises.”

The new draft bill is

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Suit Alleges Trusted Blacks Drew Minorities to High-Rate Loans

By | 09.17.09 | 2:39 pm

As the housing market began booming in the mid-2000s, Wells Fargo & Co. teamed up with prominent African American commentator and PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley and financial author Kelvin Boston, the host of “Moneywise,” a multicultural financial More…

A Warning to Wall Street; A Plea to Congress

By | 09.14.09 | 2:49 pm

Appearing on Wall Street today, President Obama accused some of the nation’s financial institutions of “misreading” the economy’s nascent recovery, and urged Congress to pass strict new banking regulations to prevent the industry’s “reckless behavior” from spurring another economic collapse.

We will not go back to the days

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Mortgage Servicers Bought Loans Blindly

By | 09.10.09 | 4:40 pm

Here’s a fascinating exchange between Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Financial Services subpanel on housing, and Mary Coffin, executive vice president of Wells Fargo‘s mortgage servicing division, during yesterday’s hearing to examine how effectively the administration’s voluntary mortgage modification program is preventing foreclosures. (More…