Claire Williams

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau doubles its anticipated rulemaking agenda from last year, even as bureau employees expect mass layoffs.

The GENIUS Act would allow Special Purpose Depository Institutions, which are state-chartered uninsured banks, to expand to other states without the approval of state bank regulators, a provision that's now drawing criticism from consumer advocates and banking lobbyists.

Bank groups, especially those representing the largest institutions, did little in the way of a public campaign against the provisions in the stablecoin bill that could disintermediate traditional banking, but are picking up steam for the upcoming market structure fight.

President Trump said Thursday that he will nominate Stephen Miran, who currently serves as chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, as the next member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Miran is a key architect of President Donald Trump's tariff policy.

The executive order tells banking regulators to examine banks for signs of politically motivated account denials.

President Trump in an interview Tuesday morning railed against big banks for allegedly discriminating against conservatives, a notable shift in tone that puts more responsibility for the debanking debacle on banks rather than regulators.

The President's Work Group on Digital Assets released a report calling for changes to the central bank's master account policies. The reforms could make it easier for digital asset groups to access the federal payments system.

The data shows a sharp uptick in credit union acquisitions of banks, drawing the ire of community bankers as they lobby for credit union taxes.

A dramatic boardroom purge at the NCUA has unleashed a fierce debate over the future of credit unions, and whether they're still serving their original mission.

The White House working group on digital assets said in a report that regulators should "promote transparency regarding the process for institutions to obtain bank charters or Reserve Bank master accounts."

The CDFI Fund has yet to announce and disburse awards for five programs, even though applications closed months ago, the lawmakers said in a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought.

The Senate Banking Committee passed a housing package that includes funding for manufactured and other kinds of housing, but also includes an appraisal provision that mortgage bankers oppose.

The House Financial Services Committee passed a number of bipartisan banking bills with wide margins, suggesting a growing consensus on how to handle issues like deposit insurance, de novo bank formation and the Federal Reserve's discount window.

Prospective stablecoin issuers — bank and nonbank alike — will now turn to banking regulators to tackle outstanding questions now that President Trump has signed the stablecoin bill into law.

With the passage of the bill, large banks are looking into their own stablecoins or partnering with the sector, while concerns linger about state regulation, the separation of banking and commerce and the disintermediation of the banking system.

The GENIUS Act, which will give the green light to banks interested in stablecoins, but which has also raised fears that it will disintermediate the banking system, passed the House today and heads to President Donald Trump's desk.

The Republican Freedom Caucus wants to combine the market structure bill with another measure prohibiting the formation of a Central Bank Digital Currency. That move could tank the market structure bill's chances of becoming law, and with it the banking industry's best chances of getting its priorities enacted.

Some last-minute drama has derailed planned votes on crypto and stablecoin in the House, but the political maneuvering isn't likely to improve the long list of criticisms that bankers have raised about the legislation before it heads to President Donald Trump's desk. 

House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill  promised to begin combing through Dodd-Frank to find areas for deregulation, while the panel's ranking member made it clear that Democrats would fight for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

Calls for applications for a bank-specific program within the Community Development Financial Institution Fund have been delayed, raising the possibility that those funds are unspent before the appropriated money expires.