Treasury Department

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced an initiative aimed at enhancing financial inclusion. The plan includes calling on U.S. banks to participate in upholding fairness and expanding consumer financial access.

The federal Project Fortress initiative provides defensive tools for banks. Community banking groups and regulators' associations say small banks in particular need the free and accessible help.

Project Fortress encompasses four initiatives Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo hopes will "improve the security and resilience of the financial services sector."

Republican lawmakers want the Treasury secretary to extend the deadline for U.S. businesses to submit beneficial ownership information to the agency's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. She emphasized that the agency is focused on penalizing willful non-compliance rather than enforcing 'gotcha' penalties against small businesses.

The agency has proposed a rule that would give it and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States broader authority over real estate transactions near military installations in 30 states.

Lawmakers including one of the original sponsors of the Corporate Transparency Act have filed an amicus brief in the appeal against an Alabama court ruling that the law is unconstitutional, which would throw into question Treasury's newly-established beneficial ownership structure.

Despite advancements in AI for transaction monitoring, financial institutions share little in the way of fraud data, undermining efforts to combat crimes including check fraud.

The Senate Banking Committee for the second time has advanced Ron Borzekowski's nomination to lead the Office of Financial Research in the Treasury Department. The nomination languished amid partisan opposition last year.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen didn't directly address the turmoil at New York Community Bank, and said that while some smaller institutions could be hit by a changing commercial real estate market, she doesn't anticipate these mortgages will become a systemic risk.

Republican lawmakers spelled out concerns that the Financial Stability Oversight Council's ability to designate nonbank financial companies as systemically important could circumvent the lawmaking process when it comes to cryptocurrency.