This story appeared in Bank Digest.
The Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) Working Group has announced new resources in the ongoing effort to investigate misconduct, including the launch of a RMBS website to report fraud and the creation of a coordination team to facilitate the various investigations underway around the country. The RMBS Working Group’s co-chairs include Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Lanny Breuer, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Stuart Delery, U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado John Walsh, Director of Enforcement for the Securities and Exchange Commission Robert Khuzami, and New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The working group and its members are focused on investigating potential false or misleading statements, deception or other misconduct by market participants in the creation, packaging and sale of mortgage-backed securities.
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By Sarah Borchersen-Keto, CCH Washington News Bureau, Contributing Author, the CCH Federal Banking Law Reporter and Bank Digest.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured banks earned $35.3 billion in net income for the first quarter of 2012, the highest level seen since the second quarter of 2007, and the eleventh consecutive year-over-year quarterly improvement. Loan balances, however, fell for the first time in four quarters.
First quarter net income rose 22.9 percent from the year-earlier period, as the average return on assets rose above the one percent level for only the second time since the second quarter of 2007. Over two thirds of all banks reported an improvement in their quarterly earnings, with only 10.3 percent unprofitable in the first quarter.
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By Gregg D. Killoren, J.D., CCH State Banking Law Reporter, Bank Digest and Individual Retirement Plans Guide; co-author, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act—Law, Explanation and Analysis.
The CFPB has issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking as a first step in drafting regulations for general purpose reloadable cards, also referred to as prepaid cards. According to the bureau, the rules will be intended to ensure that consumers' funds are protected and that card fees and terms are clear. The ANPR applies to access methods beyond actual cards, such as cell phone applications, but not to payroll cards, non-reloadable cards, gift cards, cards linked to bank accounts or other similar access devices.
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