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Sen. Sherrod Brown may give the country's biggest banks heartburn, but there are signs he's positioning himself as an industry ally ahead of a potential bid to run the Banking Committee.
August 25 -
Sen. Richard Shelby isn't new to Banking Committee leadership, but he would face a crucial ticking clock if he returns as chairman of the panel next year.
August 26 -
In addition to key races important to the banking policy agenda, the larger contest for which party controls the Senate could also affect legislative efforts relevant to the industry.
August 22 -
A report on big bank subsidies offers proof that statutory, regulatory, and industry changes have strengthened the financial system in the years since the crisis, according to Financial Services Forum chief Rob Nichols.
August 5 -
In his first policy speech, Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair Stanley Fischer highlighted strides regulators have made since the crisis, but said more progress is necessary.
July 10
Regulatory relief legislation that could benefit large and small financial institutions may advance next year, even though banking issues overall are likely to be a low priority in the new Congress, experts said at an American Banker conference Monday.
There is a growing bipartisan consensus that the definition of a systemically important financial institution needs to be changed, according Dwight Fettig, a partner at Porterfield, Lowenthal, Fettig & Sears.
Large institutions with $50 billion or more assets are considered "too big to fail," and some lawmakers want to raise that number or draft other criteria so that midsize banks are not overly burdened relative to their riskiness.
"It feels to me there is some coalescing around that, and it could provide a vehicle for regulatory relief," Fettig said Monday at American Banker's 4th Annual Regulatory Symposium.
Initial momentum could be stronger in the Senate.
Political analysts expect either Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, or
Brown has been interested in "too big to fail" and community bank issues. The liberal Democrat has been critical of the industry, but in recent months has taken
He spearheaded a proposal with several Republican lawmakers to tweak capital requirements for insurance companies and raised concerns that some relatively uncomplicated regional banks are being classified as systemically important.
Shelby was the chairman of Senate Banking from 2003-2007, and he has over the years raised concerns about concentration of risk in the banking system and the needs of community banks.
Beacon Policy Advisors LLC partner Brandon Barford said that Shelby is up for reelection in 2016 and would be interested in holding oversight hearings on Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issues such as the bureau's
"A big focus will be regulatory relief but in a more populist manor," Barford said. "So he can show the consumers in his state that this legislation will directly help them or the banks in Alabama."
Several senators on the committee also serve on the appropriations committee, including Brown and Shelby.
The head of Citi's government affairs unit Candi Wolff noted appropriators generally work well together.
Regulatory reforms could also be inserted in an appropriations bill, if a reform bill is being blocked from reaching the Senate floor.
"If regular order becomes complicated, appropriations becomes a possible vehicle," Wolff said.