Eight banks could face fines over mortgage servicing

Welcome to the morning roundup. Here's a look at what's news in banking and finance after the weekend.

Fed could fine banks over foreclosures. The Federal Reserve could end up fining eight banks that didn't take part in the $25 billion mortgage servicing settlement, The New York Times reports. The February settlement, which involved Bank of America and Wells Fargo, settled some claims over improper foreclosures and robosigning. Originally, there had been talk of other banks -- like SunTrust and PNC -- joining in. Now, banks in that category could face fines.

Regulators want cutback on leveraged loans. Federal regulators are telling banks and private equity groups to pull back on leveraged loans -- a risky, high-yield type of loan used in recapitalizations or buyouts, the Washington Post reports. Bank of America and Wells Fargo are among the biggest players in that business.

IPOs down worldwide, up in U.S. The amount raised by initial public offerings worldwide was down 43 percent in the first quarter of 2012 from the same time period the year before, the Wall Street Journal reports. But in the U.S., the amount was actually up by more than half, making bankers optimistic.

Government keeping bank secrets. The U.S. government is being maddeningly slow in complying with public records requests related to Wall Street banks, a financial author writes in a column published by Bloomberg.

Foreclosure impact hard to measure. While statistics are published every month on the number of bank-owned homes, the "shadow inventory" of homes stalled in the foreclosure process makes the true impact hard to measure, the Associated Press reports.