Kyle Campbell covers the Federal Reserve and housing policy for American Banker. Previously, he wrote about institutional investment in real estate for PERE. He has also held staff positions at Real Estate Weekly, the New York Daily News and the Southampton Press.
The Federal Reserve System is facing increasing demands from the Senate to revamp the process for granting master accounts, disclose more information to the public and pick more diverse leaders. That pressure makes executive searches at the Kansas City and Chicago Fed banks more complicated.
The next generation of Senate Banking Committee Republicans has signed on to the latest salvo by Patrick Toomey — who will soon leave Congress — against the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. That means the master accounts issue will live on.
This year’s stress-test results show large banks have more than enough capital to deal with a major economic crisis, but their capital requirements will likely go up anyway. That has some observers and industry officials concerned credit will tighten even as the economy teeters on the edge of recession.
Despite a more rigorous hypothetical stress scenario than last year, each of the 33 banks examined retained far more than their minimum capital requirements in this year’s stress-test results.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the Board of Governors has a limited role in determining which firms are granted master accounts, an emerging point of contention between Congress and the central bank.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's Esther George is refusing to provide the Republican senator answers about certain internal deliberations at the regional Fed bank over the revocation of the master account granted to Reserve Trust. The fight could set up a bigger showdown over how the central bank grants such accounts.
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision finalized guidelines for supervising and managing the risks climate change pose to banks. While capital requirements aren’t included, U.S. regulators are directed to play a hands-on role in assessing banks’ preparedness.
Between proposed legislation threatening its discretion, a lawsuit challenging its approval process and a bombshell revelation about the only fintech to be awarded one, pressure is mounting on the Fed’s master account policy.
After blocking the Biden administration’s first pick for vice chair for supervision, five Republicans on the committee voted to approve Barr, clearing his path to confirmation.
The top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee said he would vote for Michael Barr to serve as the Federal Reserve’s vice chair for supervision. The committee will vote on Barr this afternoon.