Hannah Lang

As the Federal Reserve mulls the idea of issuing a digital currency, some industry representatives are already sounding the alarm. Their main concern is a new regime for storing cash will reduce demand for bank deposits.

The industry had tightened up last year in the face of COVID-19. But as the economic outlook improves, banks are now easing criteria amid heightened competition, according to the Federal Reserve’s survey of loan officers.

The legislation would establish a quick process for legacy financial contracts to swap in the Secured Overnight Financing Rate after the London interbank offered rate all but expires in 2023.

A hike in guarantee fees charged to lenders for the companies’ backing of loans was due to expire this year, but lawmakers now want to extend it to raise $21 billion for the bipartisan package.

A Senate hearing highlighted the two parties' starkly different views of digital assets, with Democrats warning of price manipulation and Republicans saying the government should just get out of the way.

While federal regulators attempt to overhaul the Community Reinvestment Act for banks, Congress has shown little interest in applying it to other lenders. But recent moves in Illinois and New York have given some stakeholders hope that state lawmakers will pick up the slack.

Graham Steele, a former Senate Banking Committee staffer who has supported strong regulation, was named as the administration's choice for assistant secretary of financial institutions.

Widely perceived as the architect of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren used the occasion of the agency's 10th anniversary to call for more robust oversight of cryptocurrency and banks' overdraft practices.

The president has a chance to make his mark on the central bank as the terms of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Vice Chair of Supervision Randal Quarles near their end. He will face pressure from progressives to pick reform-minded leaders, while moderate Democrats and Republicans in the narrowly divided Senate might favor reappointing Powell.

The White House's firing of Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria sparked immediate speculation about who will run the agency and help chart the future of the two mortgage giants. Potential nominees include ex-Obama administration officials, congressional staffers and members of the Biden transition team.

Consumer advocates and mortgage industry officials are urging Sandra Thompson, the new acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to undo many policies that her predecessor, Mark Calabria, put in place over the past year.

Nine of the 12 largest banking companies in the U.S. proposed higher quarterly payouts to shareholders. In announcing the actions, the banks touted their strength after more than a year of economic dislocation.

Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles says the benefits of a central bank digital currency are “unclear,” and that a digital dollar could actually “pose significant and concrete risks.”

The 2013 rule, which was weakened under the Trump administration, established a comparatively low bar for plaintiffs alleging discrimination.

Gordon is currently president of the National Community Stabilization Trust, a nonprofit organization that promotes neighborhood revitalization and housing affordability.

The Federal Reserve found that under its harshest stress-test scenario, bank capital ratios would decline to 10.6% on average — well above the 4.5% minimum requirement. Restrictions imposed on dividend payments and share repurchases during the economic crisis last year will be lifted after June 30.

Thompson, who was most recently the deputy director of the FHFA’s Division of Housing and Mission Goals, replaces Mark Calabria, who was fired Wednesday afternoon.

President Biden removed Mark Calabria as Federal Housing Finance Agency director hours after a Supreme Court ruling made the move possible. The administration is expected to offer up a nominee who will prioritize affordable housing and racial equity in housing instead of reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The president will oust Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria, a Trump appointee, now that the high court says the chief executive can do so at will. It's "critical that the agency implement the administration’s housing policies," said a White House official.

A majority of the justices concluded that the law establishing the Federal Housing Finance Agency violated the Constitution when it said a president may only remove the agency's chief "for cause."