Financial regulations

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.

The central bank said the proposed measure governing transactions on FedNow — a real-time service expected to be available in 2023 — would be similar to the framework for the current Fedwire Funds Service.

Some bank regulators are allowing companies that offer digital currencies to apply for a charter, potentially giving them a path to the Federal Reserve system without proper oversight.

Some bank regulators are allowing companies that offer digital currencies to apply for a charter, potentially giving them a path to the Federal Reserve system without proper oversight.

Detecting business dealings with banned parties means screening a maze of transactions, and Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control supports calls for the industry to take a risk-based approach. But regulators effectively require banks to track everything, which is unproductive.

The jockeying over who President Biden should appoint to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has focused attention on how to regulate the fintech sector, but the discussion has glossed over flaws in the agency's funding structure that have persisted across administrations.

A voluntary effort to include more members of underrepresented groups in the C-suite and on corporate boards would help banks avoid government mandates.

The regulator must rediscover bipartisanship and collaboration while ensuring new regulations don't overstep the Federal Credit Union Act.

Todd Harper, a Democrat, says he will continue his efforts to increase the agency's consumer advocacy role, despite opposition from the industry and two Republican board members.

Harper, a Democrat, had long been expected to be promoted to the chairmanship under a Biden administration, but he could face an uphill climb moving his priorities forward.