Claire Williams

Stablecoin yield has continued to be a flashpoint as bank groups look for a blanket ban on crypto exchanges and other nonbanks offering yield-like rewards for holding crypto.

President Donald Trump said that lawmakers should support legislation that would require credit cards issued by most large banks to offer merchants the choice between two unaffiliated card networks, one of which cannot be Visa or Mastercard.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill's community-banking package includes reciprocal deposits, tailoring and many other items on community bankers' wish lists.

President Trump said he would prohibit large institutional investors from buying single-family homes. While the executive couldn't bar such investments on its own, a legislative ban could gain bipartisan support.

As the Senate Banking Committee stands poised to mark up crypto market legislation within days, banks are focused on blocking crypto exchanges from offering rewards on stablecoins, which they fear could siphon deposits away from community banks.

When Congress returns from its recess in 2026, a number of financial legislative issues will be teed up, including crypto market structure, deposit insurance and supervisory disputes.

The Senate confirmed Travis Hill as the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as part of a slate of nominations that were approved late Thursday. Hill has been serving as acting FDIC chair since January.

The Federal Reserve said in a statement that its "understanding of innovation products and services have evolved" since the initial guidance was published in 2023.

The House Financial Services Committee unanimously passed bills that would give the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. more options in resolving failed banks, including by waiving the "least-cost resolution" requirement in some circumstances.

The Financial Services Forum, which represents the largest U.S. banks, formed a new 501(c)(4) advocacy group to amplify big banks' policy preferences, a move that could counter the crypto industry's growing political influence.

In a Senate Banking subcommittee hearing, lawmakers discussed a bill that would guarantee all legal industries and all individuals fair access to banking services.

Leading Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee sent a letter to Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., pointing out the as-yet unsatisfied legal requirement for prudential regulators to appear in Congress semiannually.

The House Financial Services Committee discussed allowing banks to experiment with artificial intelligence with a waiver from regulatory penalties, including consumer protection laws, in a hearing.

A new bill from Sens. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., would streamline the Securities and Exchange Commission's small-business surveys, which the agency uses to consider the needs of small businesses in rulemakings.

The National Defense Authorization Act will be voted on by the House without the housing package that passed through the Senate Banking Committee unanimously.

A bipartisan housing provision has emerged as a critical negotiating point for passage of an uncommonly bank-relevant defense authorization bill.

In a relatively mild oversight hearing in the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday morning, regulatory heads at the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, National Credit Union Administration and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. outlined plans for reduced capital requirements and debanking enforcement.

Regulatory heads of the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will appear before the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday morning, the first joint appearance of President Trump's banking regulators since taking office in January.

Democratic lawmakers, led by Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., press 21 institutions for fee data after a federal agency halted disclosure requirements.

The Supreme Court won't consider Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka's case alongside a similar one involving the Federal Trade Commission when it hears oral arguments in early December.