office of thrift supervision

What’s up with the Obama administration’s much-vaunted plans for financial regulatory reform? First, The Washington Post reports that an ambitious proposal for a systemic risk regulator — a single agency to regulate and monitor banking and  intervene if threats to the financial system emerge — is getting bogged down by all kinds of opposition. Smaller [...]

Kevin Drum at Mother Jones applauds the idea of a single bank regulator, a proposal The Washington Post reports is now under consideration by the Obama administration.
For what it’s worth, I’d say that having a single bank regulator is long overdue.  The current structure not only doesn’t make sense, but allows banks to shop around [...]

The Obama administration is considering stripping the Securities and Exchange Commission of some its oversight powers, and shifting that responsibility to the Federal Reserve, Bloomberg reports.
The proposal, still being drafted, is likely to give the Federal Reserve more authority to supervise financial firms deemed too big to fail. The Fed may inherit some SEC functions, [...]

Mike’s piece today on the failure of Congress to pass a mortgage cramdown bill — which would allow bankruptcy judges to modify loans and is a major element of the Obama administration’s plan to deal with the foreclosure crisis –clearly demonstrates the continued clout of banks and the cowardice of politicians who regularly mouth their [...]

Now it’s the life insurance industry’s turn for a bailout, The Wall Street Journal reports today. The Treasury Department has approved allowing life insurance companies to participate in the Troubled Assets Relief Program, according to The Journal. A formal announcement should come within days. Life insurance companies that own federally chartered banks and thrifts will [...]

When the Office of Thrift Supervision failed to notice a meth addict was mortgage supervisor at Washington Mutual, its days might have appeared numbered. But thanks to insurance firms looking to pick up government bailout money, it could rise again.