The congressmen want the Federal Reserve, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the National Credit Union Association to define unfair lending practices and mandate ways to prevent them, as the law states.

FORBES: One Market, One Regulator?

"All deposit insurance is a moral hazard, and brokered deposits are a moral hazard, squared, " says Alex Pollock, a former head of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago and now a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

FORBES: Bad News Banks

Countrywide is moving all its mortgage origination activities under the umbrella of its federal savings bank, which would allow it to use deposits to fund loans, as well as let it borrow through the Federal Home Loan Bank system.

FORBES: Countrywide Is On Its Side