Elizabeth Warren

The Federal Reserve Racial and Economic Equity Act would direct the Fed to consider racial inequality in employment, income and access to affordable credit when making monetary policy and in its regulation and supervision of banks.

Lawmakers don't appear ready to relax requirements yet, but they may do so in future legislation in hopes of spurring more bank lending.

Democrats Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Brian Schatz of Hawaii have sent a letter to CEO Charlie Scharf demanding a response to news reports that the bank has been placing borrowers into forbearance plans without their consent.

Members of the Senate Banking Committee took the agency’s leader to task for eliminating underwriting requirements for small-dollar lenders, which lawmakers said has left consumers more vulnerable during the pandemic.

The lawmakers argued in a letter to the Federal Reserve that suspending dividend payouts would be the "prudent course of action," allowing banks to build their capital cushions and continue lending during the coronavirus pandemic.

Sens. Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren are asking three federal agencies to reverse changes that allow banks to exclude certain items from their supplementary leverage ratio.

The inability of Democrats and Republicans to agree on a chairperson and lack of sufficient personnel have made it harder for the commission to do its job — hold Treasury and the Fed accountable for implementing the coronavirus relief law, observers say.

If Democrats retake both the White House and Senate in the 2020 election, analysts see threats to the industry from the appointment of new regulators and possible reversal of Trump-era deregulation. But legislation imposing new rules on financial institutions would face long odds.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling on the Federal Reserve to hold corporate executives personally liable if they take bailout money intended to bolster credit markets and fail to meet all the certification requirements.

As special IG for the Treasury’s allocation of $500 billion in aid, Brian Miller could look into funding for Fed credit facilities. But Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee questioned his independence.