Hannah Lang

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.

Lawmakers appeared supportive of Alanna McCargo's nomination at a Senate hearing Thursday. If confirmed, the former Urban Institute vice president would fill a role that has been vacant since 2017.

Federal Reserve Gov. Lael Brainard said she expects scenario analysis exercises will accompany supervisory guidance to ensure that large banks are monitoring and managing climate-related risks.

As general counsel, Friedman brought together her counterparts at 11 other banks to pen an open letter to the global legal community, urging it to be more inclusive and to take bold action to combat racism.

“We've put a goal there that's very specific, and we're very loud about where we are on the path to it and how we're getting there,” Fitzsimmons said. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said questionable financial transactions by senior Federal Reserve officials — two of whom have resigned — cast doubt on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s ability to steer the central bank as President Biden mulls whether to reappoint him.