EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This study shows that financial reform will likely result in a modest increase in bank lending rates in the United States, Europe, and Japan in the long term. Higher safety margins in terms of capital and liquidity will lead to an increase in lenders’ operating costs, affecting bank customers, employees, and investors. Yet banks appear to have the ability to adapt to the regulatory changes without actions that would harm the wider economy. In response to the estimated rise in regulatory costs, average bank lending rates are likely to increase by 28 bps in the United States, 17 bps in Europe, and 8 bps in Japan in the long term. By comparison, the smallest increment by which major central banks adjust their short-term policy rates is 25 bps, which tends to have a small effect on economic growth. A simple framework is used to estimate the likely increase in lending rates. These rates reflect the cost of allocated capital, other funding costs, credit losses, administrative costs, and several other factors. There is considerable uncertainty about these cost assumptions, but a sensitivity analysis shows that reasonable changes in assumptions do not dramatically alter the conclusions of this study. Cost estimates are based on several references, including academic theory, empirical analyses from industry and official sources, as well as financial disclosures by large banks. The findings are based on methodologies that were used in previous studies by academics and the official sector.3 This study, however, estimates that lending rate increases will likely be significantly smaller, for the following reasons. First, the baseline scenario implies a smaller regulatory effect, with market forces accounting for some of the expected increases in safety margins. Second, banks are expected to absorb part of the higher costs by cutting expenses. Third, investors are expected to reduce their required rate of return on bank equity modestly as a result of the...

A range of regulatory failures caused the financial crisis in 2008, and the Dodd-Frank Act will not prevent a future financial crisis, two bank executives told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday.

Government-seized housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need to be dialed back, a Congressman from New York says in an interview with MarketWatch.

Democrats must get serious and back legislation that protects all the relief won in the National Mortgage Settlement, not just some of it. Republicans must stop their willful obstructionism, and follow through on their oft-repeated promises to prevent taxes that hurt the economy. Read more: Rep. Jim McDermott , Modifying Mortgages , Money , Mortgage Servicers , Sen. Debbie Stabenow , Banks , Foreclosure , Business News , National Mortgage Settlement , Money News

Cites Recent Oregon Court of Appeals' Niday v. GMAC Decision FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Jason Lobo Phone: 703.652.1661 Email: jasonl@mersinc.org Reston, Virginia, September 12, 2012- MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. today announced that Chief Judge Ann Aiken for the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon recently dismissed a borrower's lawsuit against MERS and other defendants, which sought relief that the Court held was not justified under Oregon law. In Oliver v. Delta Financial Liquidating Trust , the borrower, who was not in default and not facing foreclosure proceedings, sued the defendants seeking a judgment from the Court that the defendants possessed no security interest in his property and that the borrower was entitled to clear title to his property free of the MERS lien. In his complaint, the borrower alleged that none of the defendants possessed an interest in the borrower's property because when the promissory note was sold by the original lender to the successor lender, none of the defendants recorded this transfer in the county land records. Judge Aiken cited to the recent Oregon Court of Appeals decision in Niday v. GMAC Mortgage LLC and found that under Oregon law a transfer of the note automatically transfers possession of the security interest [the deed of trust] in the property to the subsequent note owner. Aiken dismissed all claims against the defendants, ruling that failure to record note transfers in the county land records "fails to articulate a legal basis to remove the DOT [Deed of Trust] from the Property or otherwise allege any wrongful conduct that is redressable by this Court." Judge Aiken noted "plaintiff cannot sustain a claim for potentially wrongful non-judicial foreclosure based on MERS' role as beneficiary." "The Chief Judge's ruling is consistent with Niday because that decision did not invalidate deeds of trust that identify MERS as beneficiary," said Janis Smith, MERSCORP's Vice President...

The Housing Market: Have We Finally Hit Bottom? Source: NPR

Washington, Sept. 11, 2012 -- â??"ABA welcomes FHFAâ??s move to bring more clarity to the exposure of loans sold to the GSEs and looks forward to working with FHFA as the framework is implemented.

WASHINGTON(MarketWatch) - More than a quarter of American households lack access to full banking services or have no bank account while nearly 10 million U.S. households have no checking or savings accounts at all, according to a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. survey released Wednesday. The FDIC said one in five U.S. households, or 24 million households, with 51 million adults, are considered "underbanked" because they use problematic alternative services such as payday loans or overdraft programs. These services provide quick cash but carry high fees or triple-digit interest rates. About 17 million adults live in households with no bank account.

Press Release FDIC Releases National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked   FDIC's Committee on Economic Inclusion to Discuss Strategies to Expand Access     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 12, 2012 Media Contact: David Barr (202) 898-6992 Dbarr986@yahoo.com   The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) today released the results of its  2011 National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households , the most comprehensive survey on the unbanked and underbanked in the United States. The survey indicates that more than one in four U.S. households (28.3%) are either unbanked or underbanked, a slight increase from the findings of the FDIC's 2009 inaugural survey.  1  The survey, conducted every two years by the FDIC in partnership with the U.S. Bureau of the Census, provides the banking industry and policy makers with insights and guidance on the demographics and needs of the unbanked and underbanked. According to the 2011 Survey, 821,000 more U.S. households have become unbanked since the first survey in 2009, representing a 0.6 percentage point increase. More than half of all unbanked households said they do not have an account because they believe they do not have enough money or that they do not need or want an account. In addition, the report shows that three in ten households nationally do not hold a savings account. "The results of the 2011 National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households indicate that insured financial institutions have an important chance to grow their customer base by expanding opportunities that bring unbanked and underbanked individuals into mainstream banking" said FDIC acting chairman Martin J. Gruenberg. Other key findings of the survey include: 8.2 percent of U.S. households are unbanked. This represents one in 12 households in the nation, or nearly 10 million in total. Approximately 17 million adults live in unbanked households. 20.1 percent of U.S....

U.S stock index futures signaled a higher open on Wall Street on Wednesday ahead of possible stimulus measures from the Federal Reserve.

In each edition of the CNBC Fed Survey, we give the nation's top money managers, investment strategists, and professional economists an opportunity to tell us what they're thinking about the Federal Reserve, the economy, and the markets. Here's what they told us in the September survey.