Banks say they'll soon comply with mortgage rules

Welcome to the morning roundup. Here's a look at what's new in banking and finance this morning.

Banks will soon follow mortgage rules. Big mortgage servicers -- including Bank of America -- say they will soon be in compliance with several hundred new mortgage servicing standards that are part of recent legal settlements, Bloomberg reports. The industry says that settlement monitor Joseph Smith, the former N.C. commissioner of banks, should be an effective motivator. Bank of America says it has met all timelines for implementing the rules.

Pawlenty odd choice for bank lobby. Tim Pawlenty's choice as the banking industry's chief lobbyist is an odd choice, New York Times Dealbook's Andrew Ross Sorkin says, since as recently as last year hte former Republican presidential candidate was saying publicly that he went to Wall Street and told them to "get their snout out of the trough." His views on key financial issues also aren't publicly known.

Could Wells buy CIT? An analyst with Stifel Nicolaus put out a research note yesterday saying Wells Fargo could be a good fit for acquiring niche lender CIT Group. The Wall Street Journal says the deal does not seem far-fetched.  Fun fact: CIT Group is run by John Thain, who was chief of Merrill Lynch when it was acquired by Bank of America.

BofA cutting jobs in Asia. Adding to the drip-drop of job cuts at the Charlotte bank, Bank of America is set to cut 40-some jobs in its Asia Pacific markets division, The Wall Street journal reports. Activity in the region has slowed.