Banking/Financial Institutions

The FHFA chief said what's needed to improve the housing market is direction from Congress and the president.

The Senate Banking Committee advanced a pair of financial regulatory nominees Tuesday.

The panel approved President Obama's picks of Mary Jo White to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Richard Cordray to stay on as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

The pair of nominees now head to the Senate floor, where White is expected to win full confirmation. But Cordray appears to be stuck in the same partisan standoff over the agency he oversees that blocked his original nomination, requiring him to be installed via a contentious recess appointment.

The CFPB nominee was approved by the Democrat-controlled committee in a strict party line vote. White received broad support, clearing the committee with near unanimous support, with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) serving as the lone dissenting vote. 

The Obama administration is closely watching Cyprus’s effort to tax bank deposits in the island nation in exchange for a $13 billion bailout, the White House said Monday.

The banking system in Cyprus is reportedly on the verge of collapse, delayed a vote on the highly controversial bailout amid widespread protests.

“We are monitoring this closely, as you would imagine, but that our overall approach has been to support a strong, stable Europe, because it's in the interests not just of Europe, but in the United States,” Carney said Monday.

American banks are looking to assuage concerns that a hotly contested tax on bank accounts in Cyprus could have an impact on U.S. bank accounts.

In a statement released Monday, the chief economist for the American Bankers Association said the turmoil brewing in Cyprus has "no implication" for U.S. bank accounts.

"Simply put, U.S. insured depositors are safe and their deposits are protected by a strong FDIC fund, a financially secure banking system and the full faith and credit of the U.S. government," said James Chessen, the industry group's top economist.

A contentious bank tax could upend Europe's attempt to bail out Cyprus.

U.S. stock futures took a dive following the bailout controversy.

Europe's safety net is fraying under the strains of economic turmoil.

"London Whale" report puts Jamie Dimon back in the spotlight.

"No bid" government contracts are rising despite Obama criticism.

Both chambers of Congress are back to work this week as budget and spending battles continue.

Budgets pushed by both parties will hit House and Senate floors this week. Republicans will look to advance Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) plan, while Democrats mount support for a competing version from Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). Both measures are expected to pass, but it remains to be seen how many party defections will take place. The Hill is tracking votes for both budgets here.

Meanwhile, the Senate will continue looking for a way forward on a continuing resolution to keep the government operating beyond March 27. The top Democrat and Republican on the Appropriations panel had struck a deal on a spending package, but the measure was bogged down by amendments on the floor last week, pushing work on it into Monday at least.

Employees faced hours of questions, primarily from the head of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.).

A federal court stepped into a "turf war" between two federal agencies, ruling that an environmental regulator overstepped its bounds.

The 300-page report details the disastrous “London Whale” trades that put a major blemish on the nation’s biggest bank.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is flexing its muscles with a new proposal for expanded oversight of student loans.

“The student loan market has grown rapidly in the last decade, and servicers are now facing the stress of an increasing number of delinquent borrowers,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Our rule would bring new oversight to the student loan market and help ensure that tens of millions of borrowers are not treated unfairly.”

The CFPB sent a proposed regulation to the Federal Register on Thursday to bring student loan services under their supervision. The bureau said the proposals “would not impose new substantive consumer protection requirements,” and noted that the oversight powers were authorized by the Dodd-Frank law.