Brendan Pedersen

Criticism from banking and other business groups of Saule Omarova’s candidacy could make it difficult for moderate Democrats to support President Biden's pick to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The financial sector had been outraged over a Senate proposal requiring data submissions for accounts with at least $600 of inflows and outflows. House leaders are aiming to raise that threshold to broaden support, but industry groups say they still oppose the idea.

Saule Omarova supports allowing the Federal Reserve to hold customer deposits and is skeptical of big-bank M&A. While those views are unpopular in the industry, banking critics hailed the choice to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Lawmakers approved adding the measure, which gives banks legal cover to serve cannabis firms, to a broader legislative package. But the provision has already passed the chamber several times and analysts say full enactment will be more difficult.

Whether to approve the $8 billion deal will fall to the Fed, whose board may be reshaped by President Biden in the coming months. The White House recently called for more robust scrutiny of bank acquisitions.

Requiring financial firms to report customer account data to the IRS as a means of catching tax cheats would be intrusive and costly, industry officials say. Backers of the measure say those claims are exaggerated.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen lobbied the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee on the measure requiring bank-provided customer data to help crack down on tax cheats and pay for the $3.5 trillion spending plan.

The agency’s enforcement action against a Virginia nonprofit is seen as reining in income-share agreements, which give students tuition in exchange for future wages and which critics complain have evaded scrutiny. Clearer regulatory guidance could solidify ISAs’ legal viability, proponents say.

Congress is considering whether to fund Biden administration spending priorities by forcing tax evaders to pay what they owe. Banks are intensifying efforts to kill a related provision requiring them to share more account data with the Internal Revenue Service.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency made good on a promise to rescind Community Reinvestment Act reforms finalized by ex-Comptroller Joseph Otting as part of talks with other regulators on an interagency overhaul of the law.

Net income significantly recovered compared with a year earlier, totaling $70.4 billion. But the average net interest margin fell to another record low as lending remained sluggish, the FDIC said in its quarterly update.

The agency’s enforcement action against Better Future Forward says the nonprofit’s income-share agreements — an alternative education finance product — must follow the Truth in Lending Act just like other forms of student loans.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is soliciting feedback on banks' experiences with remote exams during the pandemic. Some welcome the review as a step toward a more modern examination system, while others contend the last year and a half exposed the drawbacks of long-distance oversight.

Regulators and the Biden administration are considering how to respond to the sharp growth in digital assets pegged to fiat currency. Their options include establishing rules like those for bank deposits and having the Federal Reserve issue a digital dollar that competes with private-sector stablecoins.

The agency signaled during the Trump administration that it would approve more industrial loan companies following an extended freeze in new charters due to policy disputes. But the thaw will likely prove temporary now that the board's makeup has changed.

Nearly eight months of the Biden administration have gone by without a word from the White House on a nominee to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Here are some of the candidates who have been in (and in some cases fallen out of) the running.

Financial Services Superintendent Linda Lacewell said she will step down Aug. 24, the same day Gov. Andrew Cuomo plans to leave following a sexual harassment investigation. The state’s attorney general found that Lacewell helped with the governor’s public relations response to the allegations.

The agency asked bankers to reflect on their experience with virtual monitoring over the past year amid speculation that the pandemic could speed a full conversion to off-site supervision.

The Boston-based cryptocurrency firm says it would welcome the tough oversight that comes with being a bank. Yet Biden-era regulators have shown apprehension about granting approvals to digital-asset firms.

The San Francisco company says it will "modify and strengthen" its filings with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Utah officials and "resubmit at a later date." It's the latest fintech to encounter such a setback, though some later secured approval.