Brendan Pedersen

The legislation would grant stablecoin issuers a high degree of flexibility, allowing firms to be regulated state by state, as a bank, or as a “limited national limited payment stablecoin issuer” supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Even as the Biden administration ramped up sanctions against Russia on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen faced questions from Republican lawmakers who want to go further. Yellen, meanwhile, stressed the value of working together with allies.

Vocal in their opposition to some restrictive state laws in recent years, most institutions are silent on similar laws being pursued today. Why?

Democrats at a hearing on Capitol Hill contended overdraft fees hurt low-income consumers and should be reined in — with Rep. Maxine Waters proposing to make larger banks offer an account without such charges. Yet Republicans said eliminating the fees would drive some consumers toward predatory lenders and away from small banks.

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., is accusing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of pressuring Equifax, Experian and Transunion into removing most medical debt from credit reports, a move he says would compromise lenders' ability to gauge risk. Democrats, experts who testified at a hearing Tuesday and the CFPB pushed back.

The nomination of Lisa Cook, an economics professor who is one of President Biden's choices for the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, advanced Tuesday on a party-line procedural vote in the Senate.

The White House's $5.8 trillion spending proposal to Congress includes more dollars for anti-money-laundering enforcement, Small Business Administration loan guarantee programs and affordable housing financed by community development financial institutions.

House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters has asked more than 30 trade associations, including banking groups, to describe how their members — company by company — have limited or ended their dealings in Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.

A new Securities and Exchange Commission proposal would require public companies to report climate-related risks across their value chain. That could be especially difficult if it means banks have to account for their borrowers' emissions.

Four of five bills aimed at countering Russian aggression in Europe won significant bipartisan support from the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday. But the panel adopted a bill intended to expand the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's ability to hunt down Russian assets over fierce Republican opposition.

All five of the Biden administration's nominees received enough votes to secure passage to the Senate floor. Chair Sherrod Brown of Ohio called the moment "historic."

Sarah Bloom Raskin, whose views on the role of climate risk in bank supervision angered Republicans, said she has taken herself out of the running so the gridlocked Senate Banking Committee could move forward with the Biden administration’s other nominees to the Federal Reserve Board.

Sheila Bair, who served under presidents of different parties, says she is worried about the potential aftermath of the recent partisan power struggle on the board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. She recommends President Biden appoint Republicans or independents to its two open seats to ensure a diversity of ideas.

The West Virginia Democrat released a statement Monday saying that Sarah Bloom Raskin, President Biden's nominee to serve as the Federal Reserve's top regulator, "failed to satisfactorily address my concerns" and that he would not support her. Manchin's "no" vote puts her confirmation very much in doubt.

The Montana Democrat also urged his Senate colleagues to pass the SAFE Banking Act, while Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas claimed that the Republican boycott of Sarah Bloom Raskin had nothing to do with her views on climate change.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., said at an American Bankers Association summit that if Republicans win majority control of the House in the upcoming congressional elections, they would “unleash the free market” by pursuing innovation-friendly policies.

The Biden administration's decision to bar oil and gas imports from Russia could increase domestic production and energy lending yet impede overall growth and demand for credit.

Senate Democrats insist the GOP's boycott of President Biden's picks for the Federal Reserve is interfering with the central bank's handling of an economic crisis. But GOP lawmakers say the Fed is functioning fine and their concerns about nominee Sarah Bloom Raskin are material.

The president highlighted the economic pain his sanctions have inflicted on Russia during his first State of the Union address, and called on the Senate to confirm his slate of nominees to the Federal Reserve.

The impact of U.S. sanctions against Russia on U.S. banks has so far been limited. But further escalation could lead to anti-money-laundering compliance challenges and invite cyberattacks, among other consequences.