The Federal Housing Administration could soon need billions of dollars in aid from the Treasury Department, as a wave of mortgage delinquencies threaten to leave the 78-year-old agency with more losses than it has in reserves, a top Republican lawmaker said Thursday. Read full article >>

The Federal Reserve is asking 30 big banks to make sure their capital can withstand a deep recession in which the unemployment rate rises to 12%.

Press Release FDIC Releases Stress Test Scenarios FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 15, 2012 Media Contact: David Barr (202) 898-6992 dbarr@fdic.gov   The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) today released the economic scenarios that will be used by certain financial institutions with total consolidated assets of more than $10 billion for the upcoming round of stress tests required under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. The economic scenarios include baseline, adverse, and severely adverse scenarios with variables that reflect economic activity, unemployment, exchange rates, prices, incomes, interest rates, and other salient aspects of the economy and financial markets. The baseline scenario represents expectations of private-sector forecasters. The adverse and severely adverse scenarios are not forecasts. Rather, they are hypothetical scenarios designed to assess the strength and resilience of financial institutions, as well as their ability to continue to meet the credit needs of households and businesses in stressful economic and financial environments. The FDIC coordinated with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in developing and distributing these scenarios. Attachments: Data for Supervisory Baseline Scenario Data for Supervisory Adverse Scenario Data for Supervisory Severely Adverse Scenario Data Notes - PDF ( PDF Help ) # # # Congress created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in 1933 to restore public confidence in the nation's banking system. The FDIC insures deposits at the nation's 7,246 banks and savings associations, and it promotes the safety and soundness of these institutions by identifying, monitoring and addressing risks to which they are exposed. The FDIC receives no federal tax dollars — insured financial institutions fund its operations. FDIC press releases and other information are available on the Internet...

Federal Reserve Board releases economic and financial market scenarios that will be used in next round of stress tests for large financial institutions

A bit of buzz in Washington that not only will President Obama replace Ed DeMarco — perhaps with a stick-it-in-your-eye recess appointment — as the regulator of Fannie and Freddie — but also that DeMarco’s departure from the Federal Housing … read more >

Mortgage lending standards now appear to be "overly tight," and are preventing creditworthy borrowers from buying homes, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday.

November 15, 2012: FHFA Releases 2012 Performance and Accountability Report

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2012-228 Washington, D.C., Nov. 15, 2012 — Over the past year, the Securities and Exchange Commission received more than 3,000 whistleblower tips from all 50 states and from 49 countries, according to the agency's 2012 Annual Report on the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program released today. The report, which is required by the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, summarizes the activities of the SEC's Office of the Whistleblower. "In just its first year, the whistleblower program already has proven to be a valuable tool in helping us ferret out financial fraud," said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro. "When insiders provide us with high-quality road maps of fraudulent wrongdoing, it reduces the length of time we spend investigating and saves the agency substantial resources." Among other things, the report notes: The SEC made its first award under the new program to a whistleblower who helped the SEC stop an ongoing multi-million dollar fraud. The whistleblower received an award of 30 percent of the amount collected in the SEC's enforcement action, which is the maximum percentage payout allowed by law. The SEC received 3,001 tips, complaints, and referrals from whistleblowers from individuals in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico as well as 49 countries outside of the United States. The most common complaints related to corporate disclosures and financials (18.2 percent), offering fraud (15.5 percent), and manipulation (15.2 percent). There were 143 enforcement judgments and orders issued during fiscal year 2012 that potentially qualify as eligible for a whistleblower award. The Office of the Whistleblower provided the public with notice of these actions because they involved sanctions exceeding the statutory threshold of more than $1 million. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC can pay financial awards to whistleblowers who provide...

Serious Mortgage Delinquencies Fall to Lowest Since 2008 Bloomberg The rate of seriously delinquent U.S. mortgages, a proxy for the so-called shadow inventory of homes, fell to the lowest since 2008 as employment improved and recovering housing demand made it easier for borrowers to sell. The percentage of home loans ... and more »

MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing fixed mortgage rates dipping to new all-time ...

DES MOINES, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) reported today that as of Sept. 30, 2012 the company had in place 812,019 active trial or completed mortgage modifications initiated since the beginning of 2009. Of those, 683,357 modifications-or approximately 84 percent-were done through proprietary programs and 128,662 were done through the federal government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Fewer than 2 percent of the loans secured by owner-occupied properties

Paper Examines Shift from Owning to Renting and the Rise in Rental Affordability Problems.

Rising Home Sales, Stem Pace of Foreclosures<br/>http://www.cnbc.com//id/49833038

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits surged last week to a 1 1/2-year high, a sign superstorm Sandy had dented the economy by leaving tens of thousands of people out of work.

The slump in mortgage-backed securities since the re-election of President Barack Obama is starting to pose a threat to the Federal Reserve's mammoth efforts to maintain low interest rates.

US Banks Told Not to Pay Big Bucks in London<br/>http://www.cnbc.com//id/49835137