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After a month of consecutive drops, mortgage rates ticked back up this week, following the 10-year Treasury.The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.22%, up five basis points from last week's mild drop of two basis points to 6.17%. according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market survey. The 30-year rate was 6.79% a year ago."On a median-priced home, this could allow a homebuyer to save thousands annually compared to earlier this year, showing that affordability is slowly improving," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist.The 15-year fixed-mortgage rate climbed even higher, averaging 5.50% compared with last week's 5.41%. The 15-year rate was 6% this time a year ago.The Federal Reserve's benchmark rate cut of 25 basis points has not done much for mortgage rates yet, resulting in a three basis point rise thus far. But the diminished impact could be a result of Chair Jerome Powell's comments at the Federal Open Market Committee Meeting, in which he threw doubt on expectations for another cut in December. Since Powell's comments, the 10-year Treasury has risen from 3.98% the morning of the meeting to 4.08% as of noon Thursday. The slight increase stays in line with Zillow's comments last week that the 30-year rate will remain confined within the 6%-7% range for the time being.Still, the rise was reflected in the application activity for the week ending Oct. 31. Overall mortgage loan application volume decreased 1.9% on a seasonally-adjusted basis from the week prior, while the Refinance Index and Purchase Index fell 3% and 1%, respectively, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Application Survey released on Wednesday."Mortgage rate movements were mixed last week as Treasury yields moved slightly higher following last week's FOMC meeting," said Joel Kan, MBA's vice president and deputy chief economist. "Despite a decline last week, refinance applications are still significantly higher than a year ago."

UWM Holdings had its strongest production quarter since the pandemic-fueled 2021, beating its own guidance, taking advantage of a brief window where rates fell in September."Although I don't know if you guys recognize it, but it was a dominant, dominant quarter," Mat Ishbia, chairman, CEO and president said on the earnings call.The company reported GAAP net income of $12.1 million, the second consecutive quarter it has been profitable by this standard. These results include a $158.8 million decline in the fair value of its mortgage servicing rights.Why Mat Ishbia doesn't care about servicing valuationsIn response to a question, Ishbia said he does not care about MSR values because it is something out of his control; he pointed out that he had said the same thing in quarters during which the fair value increased.The number that people should be focused on, he said, is UWM's reported $211 million of adjusted EBITDA for the quarter.This compares with second quarter net income of $314.5 million and year ago net income of $31.9 million.During the period, United Wholesale Mortgage produced $41.7 billion, compared with internal guidance of between $33 billion and $40 billion. This beat Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' estimate of $38.3 billion.For the second quarter, UWM originated $39.7 billion, while for the third quarter of 2024, it did $39.5 billion.UWM's third quarter production by loan purposePurchase originations made up $25.2 billion during the quarter, compared with $27.3 billion three months ago and $26.2 billion last year.Meanwhile, the refinance share grew to $16.5 billion. This compared with $12.4 billion in the second quarter and $13.3 billion one year ago.The purchase share of 60% was "slightly below the approximately 70% purchase mix estimated for the industry in the third quarter," Bose George, an analyst at KBW, said in a flash note.Prior to the quarter, UWM guided to gain on sale between 100 basis points and 125 basis points, and beat that at 130 basis points. This also beat George's 120 basis point expectations. In the second quarter, GOS was 113 basis points, while for the year ago period, it was 118 basis points.Operating earnings per share were in line with KBW's and Street estimates, as revenues came in 2 cents higher but so did UWM's expenses, George said.What drove September production at UWMThe company also noted it had its single best rate lock day ever in September, $4.8 billion, as part of a short window of opportunity leading up to the Federal Open Market Committee meeting that month. The previous record was $2.8 billion in October 2020."It was phenomenal to see across the board the execution, because we have been preparing for years," Ishbia said. "When you actually have to do it and execute, you never know how it's going to go, and it went amazing."Ishbia credited the company's Mia technology, noting it made over 400,000 calls on behalf of its mortgage brokers. The company had forecasted a 10% to 15% answer rate, but it has gotten a 40% answer rate.It also answered about 70,000 inbound calls. UWM's expectations for originations and marginIshbia guided to even better production in the fourth quarter for UWM, to between $43 billion and $50 billion. It also raised its guidance on GOS to between 105 basis points and 130 basis points.He also said that UWM's initiative to bring its servicing function in-house is on track for the first quarter of 2026. As part of the shift, during the third quarter, the company entered into a relationship with Bilt, which will give borrowers rewards when they make their mortgage payments.But UWM will not see the full financial benefit of bringing servicing in-house until 2027 because "I'm double dipping," having the costs associated with the build out as well as still having to pay subservicers to handle the portfolio until it can get it fully on-boarded, Ishbia said.Ishbia did note that servicing rights purchasers might be getting "a little inside track" from their buys, but "that is not the game anymore" for driving originations."Taking the friction out is the game," he declared. "Technology is the game, and that's why you see me making investments every single day to be prepared to dominate, just like we did in the third quarter, and I will again in the fourth quarter and then in 2026."

Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg Key Insight: The Fed says its revised supervisory framework reflects that large banks are well capitalized, have sound liquidity positions and good asset qualitySupporting Data: Roughly 47% of large financial institutions were considered not "well managed" under the former framework.Expert Quote: "Bank ratings should reflect overall safety and soundness, not just isolated deficiencies in a single component," said Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman.The Federal Reserve Board of Governors finalized changes to its supervisory rating framework to allow large bank holding companies to be considered "well managed," even if they receive one deficient rating in supervisory reviews. The final notice published Wednesday applies to both large banks and to the rating system framework for roughly 130 top banks that are significantly engaged in insurance activities. The revisions better align with rating systems used for other banking organizations, the board said, and "more accurately reflect the strength of individual banks." Importantly, 47% of large banks were deemed not well managed under the previous framework, and the Fed said the revision addresses the mismatch between ratings and banks' overall condition.  Of the 36 bank holding companies in the third quarter subject to the previous framework, 17 were not considered to be well managed. With the revisions, that number dropped to seven, the board's staff estimated.  Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said the change was needed because it better reflects the resilience, financial and operational strength of large financial institutions. "Bank ratings should reflect overall safety and soundness, not just isolated deficiencies in a single component," Bowman said in a press release. "These framework changes address this by helping to ensure that overall firm condition is the primary consideration in a bank's rating."The Fed's action is consistent with a number of similar initiatives to relax capital requirements and other regulatory requirements for the largest bank holding companies. The final framework is substantially similar to the board's proposal that passed 5-1 in July with one abstention. However, Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr issued a scathing statement objecting to the changes. He said the revised framework reduces incentives for large banks to fix serious management problems and allows banks with significant weaknesses to expand or merge, raising the chance and cost of future failures. "This rule would undermine oversight of the largest 36 banks in the country by allowing poorly managed large banks to be treated as well managed—granting them privileges meant only for strong, healthy institutions," Barr, who was until earlier this year the Fed's Vice Chair for Supervision, wrote in the sole dissent. Barr said the revised framework is inconsistent with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and subsequent requirements that "well managed" firms have a satisfactory rating for management in order to make acquisitions. He also objected to removing the presumption that large firms with significant deficiencies must take corrective action. Under the new framework, Barr said a firm could have "significant capital weaknesses as well as serious deficiencies in risk management in a number of important areas, including cybersecurity, internal audit, anti-money laundering, and consumer compliance," and would still be considered well managed.The Fed's supervisory framework has three components: capital, liquidity, and governance and controls. Each component has four potential ratings: broadly meets expectations, conditionally meets expectations, deficient-1, or deficient-2.Under the new framework, the Fed will consider a firm with one deficient-1 rating to be "well managed," while a firm with a deficient-2 rating will continue to be considered not well managed, meaning the bank would face limits on certain activities such as mergers and acquisitions.But the revisions to the framework now mean that a bank that receives one or more "deficient" ratings will not necessarily be subject to an enforcement action, depending on the facts and circumstances, the board said in its 105-page notice. Plus, the final notice removes any reference to "reputational risk" for banks rated under the insurance supervisory framework.The framework applies to bank holding companies and non-insurance, non-commercial savings and loan holding companies with total assets of $100 billion or more, and to intermediate holding companies of foreign banking organizations with assets of $50 billion or more. 

Onity Group posted its best quarter for funded loan volume and shed a troublesome subservicing portfolio, in another steady quarterly performance. The lender and servicer Thursday posted net income attributable to common shareholders of $18.7 million, down from the $21.5 million and $21.4 million profits of the quarter- and year-ago periods. Its latest adjusted income of $31.5 million however topped those comparable quarters, and represented the 12th consecutive quarter in the black.The company recorded $11.9 billion of funded volume, $7.1 billion of which came from its correspondent and consumer-direct operations. An 85% recapture rate on consumer-direct originations, on par with retail competitors, drove that surge with the recent lower rates, the company said.Onity also reported $25 million in adjusted origination pre-tax income, more than doubling quarter- and year-ago marks, on the strength of greater closed-end second volume and higher margins on lower volumes of reverse originations. While reverse volume fell 13% quarterly to $143 million in the third quarter, revenue margin shot up to 446 basis points from 367 basis points the quarter before. The company posted $31 million in adjusted pretax income, flat compared to the second quarter and down $18 million from the same time last year. The company's total revenue climbed to $280 million, rising 13% quarterly and 5% annually. On an adjusted basis, revenue was $265 million, an amount including the portion of the looming subservicing subtraction.  Onity, Rithm Capital end subservicing relationshipCompany chair, president and CEO Glenn Messina explained Rithm Capital's notice of non-renewal for a subservicing portfolio, expected to transfer in the first quarter next year, of which $8.5 billion of unpaid principal balance requires further trustee and other consents. That low-margin subservicing portfolio is composed of low-balance, pre-2008 subprime loans, and accounts for over half of Onity's delinquencies, Messina said. Shedding the portfolio was an eventuality, he noted. "The portfolio probably had maybe another year of marginal profit contribution associated with it," said Messina. The portfolio accounted for 4.9% of Onity's third quarter adjusted revenue, but the CEO said the company doesn't expect the move to have a material financial impact for 2026.Onity's servicing growthOnity expects $32 billion of unpaid principal balance additions in the second half this year, from nine new clients and six more under negotiation. The firm's servicing average unpaid principal balance ticked up to $312 billion ending Sept. 30, and the fair value of its mortgage servicing rights has risen quarterly and annually to $2.76 billion. The company also reported improvements in late payments, with a 4.2% portfolio-wide rate showing improvements in each of conforming, government-sponsored and non-qualified mortgage loans. The company's Ginnie Mae holdings had better delinquency metrics than the broader market, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Sean O'Neil said. Shareholders reacted positively to the third quarter figures, and Onity's stock was up 7% and trading around $42.40 per share as of midmorning.

With the average mortgage rate near 6%, US homebuyers are looking at the most affordable monthly payments in a year. But San Antonio real estate agent Tavyn Weyman knows how to get them lower — much lower. The trick is simple: buy new. In markets across the US, homebuilders sitting on unsold inventory are subsidizing mortgage rates so heavily they sometimes match the record lows last seen during the Covid-19 pandemic. That's in addition to perks like free appliances, finished basements and zero closing costs.Weyman said a large private builder just gave one client a 3.49% fixed rate on a $414,000 home on the west side of town. The sales agent even bumped up Weyman's commission to cover the cost of breaking the buyer's lease and threw in another $2,000 to make the first month effectively free. READ MORE: Profits up while sales fall: How homebuilders did it"You want to pay $2,000 a month on a brand new 4-bedroom home and have a 2% rate, I can find that now — as crazy as that sounds," Weyman said. "It's all negotiable."A single mother relocating from Florida is interested in a 3.99% fixed rate offered by D.R. Horton Inc., the biggest US builder by stock market value. But it's the introductory rate of less than 1% for the first year that really caught her eye, Weyman said.These aren't the perks of a healthy housing market. They're the tactics of an industry trying to get the attention of buyers as tariffs, a government shutdown and artificial intelligence add to feelings of job insecurity. Year-to-date job cuts have exceeded 1 million, the most since the pandemic, according outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Last month alone firms announced 153,000 cuts, the most for any October since 2003.The anxiety is taking the wind out of a prophesied jump in homebuyer demand as mortgage rates decline. "We would have expected to see a little bigger bump out of the reduction in mortgage rates that we've seen," D.R. Horton Chief Executive Officer Paul Romanowski said on a call with analysts last week. "It truly is choppy."READ MORE: New-home loan growth slows as builders anticipate a slowdownOther builders have shared disappointing feedback from the market. Century Communities Inc. in an earnings call said demand is especially weak from entry-level buyers. PulteGroup Inc. said first-time buyer orders plunged 14% in the latest quarter compared with a year earlier."Lower interest rates are a positive for housing demand, but rates don't operate in a vacuum," Ryan Marshall, chief executive officer of PulteGroup, said in an earnings call last month. "There is a clear offset if rates are coming down because the economy is slowing and people are worried about their jobs."A big obstacle for new sales agents is that renting is now much cheaper than buying. Rents are starting to dip, and landlords are reporting retention rates that are near record highs. Meanwhile, resale listings are no longer in short supply, giving buyers plenty of other options. Still, few are biting. Pending sales stalled in September, still barely above record lows."The existing market is a much more formidable competitor to the homebuilders than it has been for a long time," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "There's a lot of angst about job security, given there is no hiring. And artificial intelligence is coming on."For the first time, the price for a typical new home in July and August was cheaper than that of an existing home, according to a John Burns Research & Consulting analysis of Census and National Association of Realtors data. The average premium since 1973 was 16%. The analysis doesn't include incentives.READ MORE: Trump calls on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac to boost homebuildersProduction builders spent an average of 7.5% of sales prices on incentives in the three months ended August, up from 4.8% in May 2024, according to the company's builder surveys."There is an opportunity to buy new homes at really low rates," said Eric Finnigan, vice president at John Burns. "The big surprise is why sales are still so soft."But not all rate buydowns are created equal. Some permanently lower borrowing costs for a full 30-year term, while others keep rates low only temporarily. Those deals can work well for households expecting rising income or a future refinancing — but they carry real risk for borrowers who aren't prepared for the jump in monthly payments once the promotional period ends.Lennar Corp. is in the midst of a nationwide "Inventory Close-Out Sale," offering rates of 3.75% in Denver and up to $70,000 in price reductions in Charleston, South Carolina. Lennar spent 14% per home on incentives as a share of revenue this year, up from 10% in 2024.The strategy of undercutting the resale market seems to be working, at least according to Weyman. The agent in San Antonio said seven of the eight homes he sold this year were newly built."New home buyers are expecting a lot of things so you've got to get them more," Weyman said. "I always advertise that I'm never going to make a client pay for closing costs, especially now."

Zohran Mamdani is already shaking up New York's real estate market. The 34-year-old Democratic Socialist won a majority of voters Tuesday in the city's mayoral race, on a platform addressing the sky-high cost of living in the city. Opponents say his policies, which include a rent freeze and higher taxes, will drive homeowners and investors away. Benjamin Kaziyev, a mortgage loan originator with Kew Gardens, Queens-based Mortgage Depot, said he's already seeing action."They're looking to get out of New York as quickly as possible," he said Wednesday morning of his clients. "I have a client who, unfortunately, has to get a prepayment on his loan and he really doesn't want to, because he doesn't want to stay in New York any more than he has to."Mamdani's victory could ultimately result in greater transaction volume across the city, some industry professionals suggested. Other dealmakers, also anticipating reactions from their clientele, are cautioning a wait-and-see approach as the mayor's agenda reverberates across the city and to the state capitol.What Mamdani says about real estateThe state lawmaker will be New York City's first Muslim and first African-born mayor and its youngest in more than a century. His ambitious agenda includes among other items freezing the rent for over 2 million rent-stabilized apartments and advocating for larger affordable housing bond financing. To help pay for headline policies such as free buses and city-owned grocery stores, the Mamdani administration will also raise the city's corporate tax to match New Jersey's 11.5% rate, and tax the wealthiest 1% of New Yorkers a flat 2% tax, although it cannot do so without the approval of the New York State legislature.How will New Yorkers react?Terry Lockery, regional sales leader at Prosperity Home Mortgage, believes sales will rise. The Rye Brook, New York-based originator just north of the city said he hasn't seen an instant reaction from his mortgage clients, but anticipates the Mamdani news will bump today's relatively sluggish transaction pace. "I think it has an impact, regardless of what side you're on, whether you want to move back into New York or out," he said.Experts said an exodus could lower prices and draw newcomers. They've also heard of increased activity in markets such as the nearby, upscale Westchester. Some real estate veterans however described migration chatter as overblown. Mortgage Depot's Kaziyev compared the sentiment of homeowners moving to those who said the same at the time of President Trump's election. "Did that happen? No," he said. "But it's a lot easier to leave New York than it is to leave to a whole different country."Other local residents may be adversely impacted by Mamdani's moves. Kaziyev also urged caution for co-op owners around Mamdani's support for Local Law 97, a 2019 city law requiring buildings over 25,000 square feet to meet greenhouse gas emissions limits. "The ramifications of that being, the maintenance will go up once you have to transition every single co-op and condo to electric," he said. "It's almost like they're trying to squeeze people out."The city's renters, already paying an average of $4,462 in October according to Redfin, could also be affected by the mayor-elect's policies, explained Corey Cohen, founder of The Roebling Group in Manhattan."You're going to see a lot more of the rent stabilized housing market in trouble," he said regarding a rent freeze. "Free market rents could go higher, because you're not going to have enough inventory coming back to life from the rent-stabilized market." How will investors react?Mamdani's critics have raised concerns that his policies will discourage investment due to the proposed higher taxes and other issues like criminal justice reform. No matter how the environment unfolds, the markets crave certainty, and the spectre of uncertainty makes it hard to understand values, said Gary Hisiger, chair of the real estate and banking practice at Moritt, Hock & Hamroff.The real estate and financing transactions expert said he was on two calls Wednesday morning in which two good-sized multifamily buildings sales were put on hold, pending clarity."The capital doesn't want to be committed at this point in time," he said. "They're nervous about what the outcome may be and what impact it can have on the future value of the transaction."Actions around rent control could further impact multifamily operating incomes and values, experts explained. Multiple real estate veterans cited a 2019 city renter protection bill, which they say already limited new supply coming onto the market.Can Mamdani really impact the housing market?Some originators declined to speak Wednesday about Mamdani or politics at-large. Others shared their support for independent candidate and former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, however begrudgingly, and said there was no pro-Mamdani sentiment in their circles. More real estate players didn't show their cards in speaking; the The Real Estate Board of New York in response to inquiries Wednesday offered a brief statement pledging to work with the next mayor on housing affordability. Politics aside, experts questioned whether Mamdani's agenda could be achieved given the hurdles he'll have to face at the city, state, and potentially federal level. Cohen described the upcoming landscape as the battle between two competing visions for the city: Mamdani's New York of new policies, versus Jamie Dimon's New York of big business. "I think those are the two larger forces that are always kind of competing within New York," he said. "I'm curious if some of those competing interests will center or moderate some of the rhetoric."Scott Valins, co-founder and CEO of brokerage GoRascal in Brooklyn, echoed Hisiger in emphasizing people to take a wait-and-see approach. He said he wouldn't be surprised to see a slowdown in real estate transactions, but expected the market would rebound as it has after other major changes, like the state and local tax deduction or the coronavirus pandemic. "I believe in the long run New York City will be fine," said Valins. "We'll look back at this as just another bump in the road in the long, New York City, stable and strong real estate market."

Key Insight: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposal comes as auto loan delinquencies are hitting their highest levels in decades. What's at Stake: Banks object to reduced supervision of nonbanks, arguing that the Dodd-Frank Act specifically requires consistent oversight of banks and nonbanks. Supporting Data: If the CFPB adopts a rule raising auto loan thresholds, the bureau would supervise just five auto finance lenders, up from 63 currently.The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to cut oversight of auto lenders — particularly those serving subprime borrowers — at a time when auto loan delinquencies are hitting new highs.Acting CFPB Director Russ Vought proposed a rule change in August that would entail the CFPB limiting supervision of auto finance companies to those that originate more than 1 million loans a year — up from 10,000 loans currently. The change would slash oversight from 63 auto finance companies to just five, and potentially eliminate all oversight of subprime lenders. The proposal comes at a time when subprime auto loan delinquency rates have hit record highs. In September, 6.1% of subprime auto loans were 60 days or more past due, down from 6.4% in August, according to Fitch Ratings, the highest level since Fitch began collecting data in 1994.Eamonn Moran, a partner at Holland & Knight, said the CFPB's supervisory process has the effect of "putting the brakes on wrongdoing," and the absence of supervision could "impact the CFPB's ability to address potential market failures." "Without supervising as many players in the auto finance sector, the CFPB may lose valuable insights into the internal practices of some of the market's key players," Moran said.Auto finance companies want the Trump administration to eliminate all supervision of auto lenders, claiming that CFPB oversight is unnecessary because the Federal Trade Commission and state authorities have enforcement authority over nonbank auto lenders, making CFPB oversight redundant. Bank trade groups and consumer advocates — two groups rarely in agreement — object to any plan by the CFPB to cut supervision of nonbanks, claiming the Dodd-Frank Act mandates that the bureau supervise nonbanks because of major gaps in consumer protection. Vought has radically shifted the CFPB's priorities, halting oversight of all nonbanks and Big Tech firms, which align with the Trump administration's priorities and donors. He recently rescinded two Biden-era rules that required nonbanks to register and report violations of local and state court orders, and to provide the CFPB with terms and conditions of arbitration clauses. The CFPB received just 15 public comments on its proposal, which technically would amend the test to define so-called "larger participants" in the auto financing market. Kitty Ryan, the American Bankers Association's senior vice president of fair and responsible banking, said scaling back supervision of nonbanks "would be a mistake." "The statutory directive is to cover larger participants, not the participants that serve the largest number of consumers," wrote Ryan, a former deputy assistant director at the CFPB. "Raising the 'larger participant' threshold contravenes Congress' intent to subject a broad range of market participants to potential supervision."The proposed rule change comes amid the messy collapse of subprime auto lender Tricolor Holdings, which filed for bankruptcy in September. Tricolor, a Dallas-based finance company, specialized in providing loans to high-risk customers without conducting any credit checks. The Justice Department is investigating Tricolor, which allegedly double-pledged collateral and engaged in fraud, impacting a number of community banks and even some larger lenders like Fifth Third Bancorp and JPMorganChase, which posted hefty credit losses. Celia Winslow, president and CEO of the American Financial Services Association, said that the Tricolor debacle shows that the CFPB has not been the best supervisor of auto lenders. "Tricolor has been committing fraud since 2007 and despite the CFPB having authority to go in and supervise, either their supervision team didn't catch the fraud, or they didn't supervise them while they were more focused on lenders who were following the law," Winslow said.  Art Wilmarth Jr., professor emeritus at George Washington University Law School, said that he agrees with the ABA, that "now is not the time to reduce supervision of significant auto lenders, especially those operating in the subprime space.""The Tricolor bankruptcy provides an important warning signal about the risks building up in the subprime auto loan segment, and I believe that 'prime' auto loans with FICO scores in the neighborhood of 650-750 are also in increasing jeopardy," Wilmarth said.A surge in auto loan delinquencies is viewed by some as 'a canary in the coal mine' for broader economic problems and consumer weakness. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was asked last week how closely the Fed is monitoring subprime auto loan defaults."We're looking at it carefully. We're paying close attention," Powell said at a Federal Open Market Committee press conference last Wednesday. "You've seen a number of subprime credit, automobile credit institutions having significant losses, and some of those losses are now showing up on the books of banks. I don't see at this point a broader credit issue. It doesn't seem to be something that has very broad application across financial institutions. But we're going to be monitoring this quite carefully and making sure that that is the case."The bureau's larger participant rule on auto financing first took effect in 2015, and since then the CFPB has taken roughly 20 public enforcement actions against nonbanks.Winslow, at the American Financial Services Association, said the FTC and state regulators already handle compliance and enforcement and that CFPB supervision is duplicative. She criticized former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra for retroactively trying to enforce repossession practices.Repossessions are "very adequately monitored at the state level, and there's a reason that we have a federal system today, so the different states can deal with that in the different ways that they believe is right for their consumers," Winslow said.But banks and consumer advocates told the CFPB that states do not have the resources or expertise that the bureau has in consumer protection laws.If the CFPB proceeded with the proposed rule, nonbanks would still be subject to FTC and state oversight but not supervisory visits by bank examiners. "This is problematic," wrote Ryan. "If state agencies engage in supervision, that supervision will be uneven, likely creating 'gaps' where certain non-depositories are not subject to any supervision." Erin Witte, director of consumer protection at the Consumer Federation of America, said that even if a few states were able to conduct robust oversight, that would leave consumers in most other states "exposed to legal violations and unfair practices.""The auto lending industry is already notoriously opaque, and the precarious dynamics of the market mean that lenders' conduct will have increasingly significant impacts on borrowers," Witte wrote in a comment letter. "This is the time for the CFPB to enhance its supervision of auto lending, not reduce it."

Guild Mortgage reported higher profits and loan volume in the third quarter, likely marking its final earnings release as a public company before its merger with Bayview Asset Management.The company reported net income of $33.3 million in the third quarter, up significantly from a loss of $66.9 million during the same period a year prior. Quarter-over-quarter earnings came in 78.1% higher from $18.7 million in Q2 2025.Originations were down on a quarterly basis, but increased 7% from the same three months a year earlier to $7.4 billion, marking $20.1 billion in volume year-to-date."Our team delivered another quarter of solid performance across both our retail origination and servicing platforms, demonstrating continued positive momentum and the successful execution of our balanced business model," said Terry Schmidt, CEO of the San Diego-based lender, in a press release Wednesday. Guild did not hold a conference call due to the pending merger.Bayview Asset Management announced the acquisition of Guild for $1.3 billion in June, a deal expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year, which will privatize the lender. The agreement comes in a year of other blockbuster mergers, like Rocket Mortgage's acquisition of Mr. Cooper a few months earlier."We remain well-positioned for continued growth as we expand our leading platform and work toward completing our pending transaction with Bayview," Schmidt said.The company's profits were driven by increases in revenue to $307.4 million from $279.4 million in the second quarter and $159.3 million a year prior.Originations accounted for $35 million of the net income, up from $6.4 million a year earlier, while servicing accounted for $44.5 million, up 159.7% from a $74.6 million loss a year prior."We continue to realize robust growth as we delivered strong year-over-year increases in adjusted net income, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted return on average equity during the third quarter, while achieving 7% year-over-year growth in originations as we focus on our customer-for-life strategy," Schmidt said.Adjusted net income and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization totaled $47 million and $72 million, respectively, compared to $41.4 million and $58 million, respectively, in second quarter and $31.7 million and $46.4 million, respectively, in third quarter of last year. Guild posted a 10.9% return on average equity, up 4.7 percentage points from the prior quarter and 33.4 percentage points from last year.Earnings per share came in at $0.54 after, exceeding estimates of $0.45.

Octaura, an electronic trading platform for syndicated loans and collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) has appointed Cristina Kim as chief financial officer, to oversee the company's financial strategy following a major fund raise earlier this year."Cristina's deep market and investment expertise will be instrumental as we expand Octaura's platform and partnerships, and continue to modernize loan and structured credit trading," according to a statement from Octaura CEO Brian Bejile.Previously, Kim was a managing director in J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s strategic investments group, where she managed a diverse portfolio of fintech investments. She also helped launch consortium companies and created governance standards across the firm for its strategic investments, according to Octaura."Octaura's mission to increase liquidity, transparency and efficiency in opaque markets resonate deeply with me," Kim said. She added, "I look forward to helping drive the company's next phase of growth and innovation."New York City-based Octaura launched its syndicated loan trading platform in September offering clients three protocols for trading CLOs. Octaura also completed a $46.5 million funding round in June, supported by Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan were among the banks that supported the founding investors.

Key Insight: At its first investor day since 2011, Bank of America expressed optimism on a number of financial fronts, but it wasn't enough to stop its stock from dropping slightly on Wednesday.Supporting Data: The bank issued new guidance on its return on tangible common equity, saying ROTCE would reach 16%-18% over the next three-to-five years.Expert Quote: "Although the market may initially find this disappointing, what we see as most important is that BofA is providing more transparency," wrote TD Cowen analyst Steven Alexopoulos.UPDATE: This story now includes additional quotes from Bank of America's executives and new information about its financial targets.At its first investor day in 15 years, Bank of America raised its sights for the future — but apparently not by enough for some investors.The nation's second-largest bank unveiled several new medium-term financial targets as part of its presentation on Wednesday, setting its guidance for return on tangible common equity and earnings per share, among other figures, slightly higher than what it posted last quarter.But as several analysts pointed out, these projected improvements were largely in line with what Wall Street had already expected. By noon, BofA's stock price had declined by about 2%."At first blush, this is a down the fairway update for BofA, with the top and bottom-line growth targets generally a continuation of recent trends," Steven Alexopoulos, an analyst for TD Cowen, wrote in a research note. "Although the market may initially find this disappointing, what we see as most important is that BofA is providing more transparency" into its targets for return on tangible common equity and earnings per share.The bank's goal for ROTCE in the medium term — defined as within the next three-to-five years — is now 16-18%. That metric, a key measure of profitability for banks, was at 15.4% in the third quarter of 2025. And historically, BofA's leadership had often forecasted ROTCE in the mid-teens.BofA also predicted that its EPS would rise by 12% or more in the next three-to-five years. The bank had never previously issued this kind of guidance.During a Q&A finishing out the investor day, investors asked the bank's leaders why the new ROTCE target was capped at 18%."There is no cap to our ambition," CEO Brian Moynihan responded. Chief Financial Officer Alastair Borthwick gave a similar answer, while admitting to a "touch of conservatism" to account for unpredictable macro conditions."We don't think about it as a ceiling. We just think that's a natural step in our evolution," Borthwick said. "We don't know what the economy will necessarily look like, we don't know what the capital rules will ultimately finalize at, but we feel really good about that 16-to-18 as the next step on our journey."Even if the outlook was unsurprising, several analysts said, it was still good news. "While consensus was largely in line with the near-term guide (and maybe a little more), we believe the return aspirations are good enough to keep investors involved and supporting the stock," wrote Glenn Schorr, an analyst at Evercore ISI.In the first speech of the day, Moynihan celebrated the bank's performance so far, but also emphasized its need to grow in the future."The growth is there and the risk is well managed," Moynihan said. "But what does my team say when they see all that? 'It's a nice start.'"One of those teammates is Holly O'Neill, BofA's head of consumer, retail and preferred banking. Speaking after Moynihan, she listed many of her team's recent accomplishments but, echoing her boss, also made it clear she would not rest on her laurels."This is not a story of complacency," O'Neill said. "Our future growth is not reliant on size and scale alone. It's driven by intentional strategies, continuous investments and how we bring our business to life in our local markets."O'Neill then went on to lay out some of her team's plans to pursue that kind of growth. In credit cards, she said, the bank plans to roll out the next generation of its rewards program next year."The evolution will expand our reach, drive higher levels of loyalty and unlock new revenue opportunities across a broader client base," O'Neill said.The bank also plans to invest in the next generation of Erica, its AI-powered financial assistant for customers. Already, O'Neill said, Erica has brought about a 60% drop in service call volume.O'Neill also set some medium-term targets for the units she leads: In the next three-to-five years, BofA's consumer business hopes to reach 75 million clients, up from the 69 million it serves today, and take in an annual net income of $20 billion, up from the $10.8 billion it totaled in 2024.These goals reflected the simple ethos Moynihan had invoked earlier."We have to grow," the CEO said. "No excuses."