Ebrima Santos Sanneh

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s approval of industrial loan company charter applications for General Motors and Ford Motor Company generated only moderate pushback from banks as crypto, debanking and credit card rate caps dominate the industry's attention.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Thursday finalized a framework for banks to appeal supervisory determinations, replacing the agency's existing appeal committee with an independent three-member panel, one member of which must have industry experience.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday morning that banks should focus on the sweeping deregulation the administration has enacted as the industry pushes back on President Trump's proposed 10% credit card interest rate cap.

Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said Friday afternoon that regulators should scale back what he characterized as costly and ineffective bank-prepared resolution plans and shifting resolution responsibility onto bank regulators. 

Warren, Wyden, Whitehouse, Welch and Schatz say the administration's memo contradicts public statements, and they want more answers on whether the administration is working with top U.S. banks to funnel money out of the South American nation.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday morning that consumer prices rose 0.3% in December, with annual inflation stuck at 2.7%, lending credence to the Federal Reserve's cautious stance toward interest rates heading into 2026.

A report from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, released Thursday found that most sudden account closures were spurred by supervisory pressure rather than political or religious bias on the part of the banks, a finding that is at odds with the White House's framing of the issue.

Employers added 50,000 jobs in December, with gains in service industries while broader sectors remained mostly flat, supporting the Fed's cautious stance on further rate cuts.

The proposed rule codifies the ability for trust companies to conduct non-fiduciary activities, something banks say Congress never intended, but that OCC says has long been the case.

Banking experts say World Liberty Trust's application for a trust charter with a regulatory body directed by the White House creates inherent conflicts of interest, while the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said the application will be considered on its merits.

The FDIC inspector general said internal and external reviews found little evidence to support a whistleblower's allegations of fraud, retaliation and abuse within the FDIC's watchdog office.

Even as oil stocks jump and lawmakers clash over Trump's decision to intervene in Venezuela, experts say U.S. banks face little short-term risk, and any energy payoff is years away.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said the administration must request funds from the Federal Reserve, rejecting a Trump DOJ legal theory.

Under a proposed rule, the agency would let most nationally chartered firms off the hook for heightened regulatory standards. The rule would raise the bar from $50 billion to $700 billion of assets and leave only eight firms subject to heightened regulation.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has made big changes in 2025, including cutting headcount, walking back Biden-era rules and guidance and resetting the agency's approach to  emerging technologies and crypto.

Moving cannabis from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug would not legalize cannabis or remove all barriers to cannabis banking, but it would allow operators to write off expenses, increase cannabis customer cash flow and eligibility for favorable loans.

Bank groups, crypto firms and regulators are divided over whether fiduciary digital-asset custody fits naturally within the national trust charter model — or whether, as critics argue, the agency is quietly reinventing the charter.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. issued a proposal setting application criteria for banks to issue stablecoins and sets a strict timeline under which banks may have their applications reviewed. The agency also reduced deposit insurance assessments for banks and slashed its 2026 proposed budget at a board meeting Tuesday morning.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Friday approved national trust charter applications for five crypto firms, affirming the administration's push to allow crypto companies the ability to take deposits. 

Pornographers, private-prison operators and digital-asset firms were among the industries that major banks curbed ties with over moral or reputational concerns, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's preliminary findings in its "debanking" probe launched earlier this year.