John Heltman is the Washington Bureau Chief for American Banker. John previously edited American Banker Magazine and is the creator of American Banker's narrative podcast Bankshot. He was awarded the Grand Neal, the top honor bestowed by the Jesse H. Neal Awards, in 2019 for his narrative podcast series Nobody’s Home, which examines the economic and social impact of concentrated vacant housing. He was also named the 2019 McAllister Editorial Fellow at Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He is a 2005 graduate of St. Mary’s College of Maryland and lives in Baltimore, Md.
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The lack of housing — particularly on the lower price range — is becoming an increasingly urgent political issue. But it's also a twisted bramble of tradeoffs that politicians are reluctant to touch.
February 28 -
The high court's inevitable decision on the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure will tell us a lot about how radical the court is willing to be.
February 21 -
The Federal Housing Finance Agency may have gotten more than it bargained for in its review of the Home Loan banks, but there is little doubt that the effort will result in significant structural change.
February 14 -
Revisions in 2020 to the way regulators classify "hot" deposits struck some observers as risky, at least in theory. Silvergate seems to have made that risk less theoretical.
February 7 -
Rising inventories and the specter of regulation may make it seem like the pandemic auto boom is over, but broader trends could make it a profitable business if banks do it right.
January 31 -
After months of forecasting and bracing for a recession in 2023, the economy seems increasingly durable. But it depends on what you're looking for.
January 24 -
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's advances to Silvergate Bank, which catered to the cryptocurrency industry, aren't as worrying as the context — the Federal Home Loan Bank System is a systemically critical node of liquidity in the banking system.
January 17 -
Revelations that Silvergate has $4.3 billion in Home Loan bank advances highlight another conduit by which the crypto winter could spread to the broader financial system.
January 10 -
The 118th Congress began today by failing to select a speaker of the House on the first ballot. That doesn't bode well for anything, but especially the federal debt ceiling.
January 3 -
The Wyoming-chartered digital asset bank is mounting a court challenge over how the Federal Reserve issues master accounts to applicants. Whatever happens, the suit will have broad consequences for the central bank and the banking industry.
December 29
