To solve the student-loan crisis, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is asking the public for their ideas. Aside from the personal pain caused by a mountain of student debt, the CFPB wants to head off the possibility of another financial crisis just like the housing bust.
Some of Wall Street's financial titans are facing lawsuits from equally formidable foes: Billionaire Len Blavatnick is suing JPMorgan Chase for losing $100 million of his money in subprime mortgages, and Norway is suing Citigroup for misrepresenting its financial condition to boost its stock price.
The market for asset-backed securities has reopened after being frozen for a week. It's the first example of how unintended consequences from the Dodd-Frank overhaul can create mischief in the financial markets. Are bigger changes coming?
CDOs were a way for investment banks to evade their capital requirements, just as asset-backed securities played a similar role for savings and loan institutions in the 1980s. This time around the banks had plenty of help, especially from fee-hungry credit agencies.
The SEC voted 5-0 to issue proposed rules covering the $2 trillion-plus asset-backed securities market on Wednesday. Chairman Mary Schapiro called it a "fundamental revision" in how ABS would be regulated. A key change is requiring more disclosure about the loans bundled into deals.
