Policy News from American Banker

Outgoing Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney Hood said in an interview with American Banker that advances can be made in economic inclusion through race-neutral policies, and he intends to keep up that fight as he leaves the Trump administration.

The Office of the Comptroller of Currency said it will no longer include examinations for disparate impact liability but will still perform fair lending risk assessments on a regular basis.

Federal banking regulators outlined considerations for safely handling digital assets in a new guidance published Monday, which replaces prior statements on crypto that were withdrawn earlier this year.

Dallas Turner, a linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings, sent $240,000 via wire transfers after scammers convinced him someone was impersonating him.

Major nonbank financial trade groups asked Treasury Secretary Bessent to scrap 2023 guidance expanding nonbank designations, citing cost and competitiveness concerns.

As we enter one of the banking industry's most extreme cycles of deregulation, we should remember it doesn't always work, especially when supervisory police are reduced and consumer protection guardrails are removed, resulting in a high-speed lane for risk-taking banks and nonbanks.

Calls for applications for a bank-specific program within the Community Development Financial Institution Fund have been delayed, raising the possibility that those funds are unspent before the appropriated money expires.

A federal judge in Texas dismissed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's medical debt rule and prohibited states from passing their own laws prohibiting medical debt on credit reports.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development reiterated it has withdrawn a number of FHA mortgagee letters related to appraisals.

Foisted on the banking industry decades ago, with no formal rulemaking process, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Manual should be eliminated in favor of new rules crafted with the input of relevant stakeholders.

Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller said that criticisms of the Fed's balance sheet and calls to return to a scarce reserves system are misinformed, saying that much of the central bank's balance sheet is the result of activities outside the Fed's control.

The Federal Reserve Thursday issued a proposal that would allow banks to be considered "well managed" even if they are found to be deficient in their governance and controls.

Jonathan Gould, who's worked in the crypto industry and has advocated for more fintech and crypto-friendly regulation of banks, was confirmed by the Senate Thursday. He is expected to both continue deregulating the banking sector and encouraging bank-fintech partnerships.

Noelle Acheson asks whether stablecoins can be considered "money" according to traditional definitions. And if not, what does that mean for payments?

The New Hampshire congresswoman promised new investigations into scam drivers, including AI and digital payment platforms.

Despite bipartisan support and backing from bank trade groups, the Treasury scrapped a corporate ownership reporting rule meant to expose shell companies and aid financial compliance. But the problems that spurred the law's passage still remain.

The president's ongoing effort to push Fed Chairman Jerome Powell out of his job are part of a dangerous effort to undermine the central bank's nonpartisan monetary policy processes.

It's time to dispense with the fiction that there is no cost to treating underwater "held-to-maturity" securities as regulatory capital. Thoughtful reconsideration of leverage ratio requirements offers an answer.

The labor market was a bigger point of discussion in the Federal Reserve's most recent monetary policy-setting meeting, but officials were divided about the path of future actions.

New Jersey state lawmakers have introduced a state-level Community Reinvestment Act that would include online lenders and credit unions — who are exempt from the federal law — in its scope.