Dodd-Frank

WASHINGTON – Retailers are fighting back against financial industry efforts to repeal a cap on debit interchange fees.

President-elect Donald Trump's choice of well-known Wall Street lawyer Jay Clayton to head the Securities and Exchange Commission was a relatively safe move that suggests his other financial appointments may be equally conservative, industry observers said.

It's no secret that Washington has been upended since the presidential election, with Donald Trump's unexpected victory forcing observers to recast predictions about what will happen in the new year. Following is a guide to what policymakers to watch and who is poised to make the biggest impact in 2017.

The Senate Banking Committee will have six fresh faces in the new Congress as Republicans grapple with a slimmer majority.

The new year is shaping up to be the one in which sizable changes to the Dodd-Frank Act are finally enacted, thanks to Republican victories in the White House, Senate and House.

The industry doesn't want to attack the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau directly, but its push to reform the agency's leadership structure is a backdoor strike at the CFPB's very existence.

Banks' ethical and regulatory missteps have been a source of consternation for regulators and the general public since the 2008 financial crisis. So how can the Trump administration balance accountability with its promises of low regulation and high growth?

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau faces a precarious and uncertain future in 2017 with all eyes focused on two questions: whether President-elect Donald Trump will attempt to fire agency director Richard Cordray and if Congress can successfully restructure the agency by changing its leadership and funding.

With the change in administration and more friendly economic conditions, policymakers should consider greater balance between principles- and rules-based approaches.

The Department of Justice is criticizing an appeals court ruling striking down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's single-director structure, saying the decision overstepped Supreme Court precedent.

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday tapped billionaire investor Carl Icahn to be a special adviser on regulatory reform.

Democrats are shuffling the deck chairs of the Senate Banking Committee and will have an additional seat on the panel when the 115th Congress convenes in January.

As the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, the central bank’s payment of interest on excess reserves is getting renewed scrutiny. Banks are worried those payments – a critical monetary policy tool -- may get hijacked in the next Congress, and want to stop it before it starts .

Republicans say they will roll back regulators' ability to oversee nonbanks once they take full control of the government in January. But what does that mean for agencies' oversight into the eight financial market utilities that operate a key part of the financial system?

Although Steven Mnuchin has close ties to Wall Street and was involved in some contentious deals, Democrats face an uphill battle making the case that those connections disqualify him to serve as Treasury secretary.

With the completion of the final total loss absorbing capacity and bank regulators' decision this week to approve the living wills of all but one of the large banks, industry representatives are claiming victory in the battle to prevent future government bailouts. But some critics aren't so certain.

The question of how and why Wells Fargo failed its living will test is an issue the bank needs to address soon as it faces another deadline to fix problems identified by regulators.

The Federal Reserve released the final version of its total loss absorbing capacity rule – one of the final elements of the post-crisis regulatory framework meant to provide a means of recapitalizing a failed megabank.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said she is advising the incoming Trump administration not to roll back the improvements in bank safety and soundness enshrined in Dodd-Frank, but acknowledged that recent scandals “certainly suggest there is room for improvement” when it comes to bank culture.

The industry finally sees a bit of an opening in its effort to roll back the 2010 law that capped fees on debit card transactions. But opposition from the retail sector will be fierce.