Law and regulation

The midyear fee hike was necessary to reverse a revenue shortfall in the agency's 7(a) program, according to Administrator Kelly Loeffler.

The Trump administration wants the Small Business Administration to shrink its workforce by 43%. At the same time, the agency is being asked to start managing the federal government's student loan portfolio.

The cryptocurrency industry is on a roll in Washington and it's not just because of President Donald Trump.

A federal judge ruled that the bank must keep the $14 billion granted by the Environmental Protection Agency in the recipients' accounts. The Trump administration has been trying to pull back money distributed under President Joe Biden.

While often used to describe a digital asset that hedges against cryptocurrency's volatility, the reality of stablecoins is much more complex.

Utah is the latest state to push a pro-industry EWA bill. If signed, it would mark the sixth state with legislation specific to the budding cash-flow product.

A group of 19 state attorneys general have sued the Trump administration, alleging the Department of Government Efficiency's move is illegal. The injunction is pending a hearing Feb. 14.

More state legislatures are exploring how to regulate earned wage access products, and interest rate caps are central to that discussion. New York state's pending legislation is taking a novel approach.

Jon Weiss, Wells Fargo's co-CEO of corporate and investment banking resigned from his position with plans to retire; A new CFPB report says military service members paid more for auto loans and add-on products; City National Bank's Kelly Coffee is leaving the bank after her 2023 demotion; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

The two companies continue to tick items off their year-end to-do list, which analysts hope will tee up the merger for finalization in early 2025. Regulatory approval remains a major question.

The companies held out hope that they'd get skeptical regulators to sign off on their $286 million deal before determining that canceling it was in their best interests.

Los Angeles dispute resolution platform Ejudicate was banned by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for forcing borrowers into arbitration with an affiliated creditor.

A hearing included discussion of European laws that will put banks on the hook for fraud schemes, and whether the U.S. needs a digital identity standard.

Four companies are fighting CFPB enforcement actions by claiming the agency cannot be funded by the Federal Reserve, which has not been profitable since 2022. The consumer bureau calls the new legal theory "meritless."

The court didn't rule on the merits of any regulation, but made it much easier to challenge rules governing banking.

The trade groups said Friday that a proposed rule from CISA would burden firms with overly broad reporting requirements as they scramble to respond to incidents.

A report on efforts to deconflict federal cybersecurity regulations found the Treasury in particular has not completed its recommendations.

The efforts, which respond to President Biden's October executive order on AI, aim to improve synthetic content detection and improve the trustworthiness of AI models.

A new policy directive aims to fortify critical infrastructure by enhancing collaboration between U.S. intelligence agencies and systemically important financial entities.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg says the agency would likely use a resolution strategy for a global systemically important bank that puts the holding company into resolution and keeps subsidiaries operating under a bridge company.