Ebrima Santos Sanneh

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the economy lost 92,000 jobs in February while unemployment held steady at 4.4%, a development that could spur the Federal Reserve to question whether interest rates are truly in balance.

The bank exited the $1.95-trillion asset cap last year, but it had remained subject to the rest of the eight-year-old order.

While the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recently published stablecoin rule bars stablecoin issuers from offering yield on holdings, there is enough wiggle room in the proposal — and unfinished business in Congress and the courts — for rewards to ultimately be accepted.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency finalized rules rescinding fair housing data requirements and expanding speedy licensing for banks under $30B in assets as part of Comptroller Jonathan Gould's push for more risk-based supervision.

A final rule published by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Friday will formalize a 2021 interpretive guidance allowing national trust banks to perform non-fiduciary custody. The banking industry complained that the rule runs counter to the traditional scope of the charter. 

The agency's 400-page GENIUS Act proposal sets capital, reserve and operational rules to govern how stablecoin issuers may operate. 

The heads of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and National Credit Union Administration, as well as the Federal Reserve vice chair for supervision, will testify in the Senate Thursday morning in their first joint appearance in the upper chamber since being confirmed.

Banks, trade groups and regulators are eligible to join a group convened by Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or Fincen, which will weigh in on anti-money-laundering rules, Bank Secrecy Act modernization and implementation of a recently passed stablecoin bill.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. report shows margins widened and profitability remained high even as credit quality saw some wobbles from consumer and commercial loan portfolios. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a public appearance in Dallas Friday that the administration will seek alternative means of enacting the White House's tariff agenda after the Supreme Court struck down the tariffs as outside the bounds of the law.

The Supreme Court Friday issued a 6-3 ruling that held that a law granting the White House economic emergency powers does not include the power to tax imports.

Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., warned the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve in a Wednesday letter not to bail out cryptocurrency firms in the wake of sharp declines in digital asset values over the last several months. 

A White House Council of Economic Advisers report published Tuesday found that the CFPB cost consumers between $237 and $369 billion since its creation, an analysis that consumer advocates and some financial academics say is flawed.

In a speech Tuesday, Federal Reserve Gov. Michael Barr said it was possible that artificial intelligence will boost productivity in an undisruptive way. But he said policymakers should also be wary of a financial crash if those gains are not realized or a rapid adoption that could lead to labor displacement.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Tuesday issued a proposed rule that would create an independent appeals board, de novo review standard for banks and uninsured firms like trusts, OCC says it'll increase trust in the system.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is slated to testify in the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday morning as part of the committee's regular oversight of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

Community bankers say credit unions and new fintech entrants are increasing the competition for deposits and loans, even as deregulation is lowering capital and compliance costs, according to a new survey from reciprocal deposit provider IntraFi.

Banking trade associations told the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that regulators should reform rules around third-party risk, saying concentration and limited choice of core service providers places an undue burden on banks.

The Chicago-based, $261 million-asset Metropolitan Capital Bank & Trust was placed in receivership and its assets sold to Detroit-based First Independence Bank, costing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s Deposit Insurance Fund an estimated $19.7 million.

The Office of the Comptroller's interpretation of federal trust powers has opened the door for dozens of charter applications by nonbank crypto firms in recent months. Some experts say the agency's interpretation may push the ambiguous statute beyond its limits.