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 Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee will announce its interest rate decision at 2pm, followed by a press conference with Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell. Markets are expecting a 25 basis point rate cut at today's meeting.
November 7 -
President Trump initiated changes at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in his first term, and the industry's frustration with the bureau has grown since he left office. But how far a second Trump administration can or will go depends on factors outside the president's control.
November 6 -
Banks have favored the low-regulation vision of former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, but his victory could imperil institutions and norms that banks rely on. Vice President Kamala Harris is more likely to preserve the status quo — including the Biden regulatory agenda.
November 5 -
The revised edition of the Basel III endgame capital rules has been stuck in limbo at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. board of directors. The issue there seems to be about the process of reproposal — but the process dictates the substance of the rule.
October 29 -
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said regulators urgently need to implement the Basel III endgame bank capital proposal, suggesting his opposition to the revised rule centers on the process of re-proposal rather than more substantive opposition to suggested revisions.
October 24 -
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said opposition to the bureau's recently finalized open banking rule should be viewed as banks and other large firms attempting to quash competition and stymie consumer data protection.
October 23 -
Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu said the bankruptcy of Synapse earlier this year highlights regulatory gaps around the state-based licensing of businesses that transfer money.
October 22 -
Regulators' asset cap on TD Bank for money-laundering violations has cemented the enforcement tool as a supreme cudgel to rein in problem banks, while other tools devised in the wake of the Great Financial Crisis gather dust.
October 15 -
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors cast doubt on an initiative unveiled by Treasury Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang that would establish a federal regulatory framework for domestic payments, saying that state-level supervision "does not … constitute a regulatory gap."
October 10 -
The Federal Reserve's apparent unwillingness to disclose volumetric details about banks' use of its proprietary faster payments network suggests the central bank is hiding something. That something could be the slow death of faster payments as the new normal.
October 1
