Hannah Lang

President Biden's announcement that he is reappointing Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve suggests that not much will change regarding supervision, capital requirements and approval of merger applications. But the still-open position for vice chair of supervision could go to a more progressive nominee.

Christopher Waller, a member of the Federal Reserve Board, warned that blocking nonbank entry into payment systems would stifle innovation. His remarks appeared to contradict a recent report in which Fed Chair Jerome Powell and others recommended that only banks be allowed to issue stablecoins.

The Federal Housing Administration’s capital fund is at a 14-year high, which industry groups say is proof borrowers are paying to much for mortgage insurance. But with elevated delinquencies resulting from the pandemic, officials said they remain cautious about pricing.

GOP opposition and a packed Senate agenda have delayed the vote on Julia Gordon as head of the Federal Housing Administration. But industry representatives say that with FHA delinquency rates still elevated and loan forbearance plans expiring, there's an urgency for Congress to confirm her by year-end.

The federal bank regulators had relaxed certain requirements in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis. But they said in a new joint statement that servicers “have had sufficient time to adjust their operations” since that time.

The Federal Reserve is mulling changes to a key capital measure for big banks, rulings on several merger applications and other actions. How it ultimately decides those matters will depend largely on whom President Biden appoints as head of the central bank and to other leadership positions.

Randal Quarles, who oversaw an easing of post-financial crisis rules as the Federal Reserve’s vice chair of supervision, announced he will resign at the end of this year. His departure will leave President Biden with another open seat to fill on the central bank’s board.

The Federal Reserve had made it easier for financial institutions facing COVID-19-related pressures to comply with the supplementary leverage ratio. The central bank ended that break last spring, but the industry says the market distortions that originally prompted Fed action persist.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell defended the central bank’s work to examine the effects of a warming planet on the financial system, but said decisions such as whether banks should lend to fossil fuel companies are best left to “elected representatives.”

Lawmakers from both parties are pushing for legislation to automatically substitute a new interest rate benchmark for the expiring London interbank offered rate in certain hard-to-amend legacy contracts.

The state joins Illinois and Massachusetts in subjecting nondepository companies to state-level Community Reinvestment Act requirements.

The President's Working Group on Financial Markets is urging Congress to limit stablecoin issuance to insured depository institutions and subject cryptocurrency wallets to federal oversight.

The standards, if finalized, could shed light on how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are complying with the Federal Housing Finance Agency's new capital framework.

The central bank's new ethics guidelines follow revelations that several high-level officers engaged in questionable trading activity last year while privy to the Fed's internal discussions about its coronavirus response.

From factoring global warming into the underwriting of government-backed loans to conducting "sensitivity analysis" of banks' ability to withstand severe weather, several government agencies are accelerating efforts to address the impact of climate change on the financial system.

Federal and state banking agencies released a joint statement calling on financial institutions to conduct the "due diligence necessary" to select a new reference rate benchmark that is suitable for their risk profile.

Trade groups are challenging a provision of the CFPB’s payday lending rule that limits lenders’ ability to withdraw funds from a consumer's bank account after two consecutive failed attempts.

Gov. Randal Quarles is no longer vice chair for supervision, and the Federal Reserve Board will make bank regulatory policy only when multiple members reach consensus. Observers expect inaction until the Biden administration fills key leadership posts.

Democrats’ $3.5 trillion social policy package would appropriate over $300 billion for housing-related measures, including down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers. But those provisions could be on the chopping block as centrists try to trim the bill’s price tag.