Jerome Powell

As the Federal Reserve mulls whether to establish its own digital currency, Chair Jerome Powell told lawmakers that cryptocurrencies designed to have the stability of bank deposits and money market funds should be regulated accordingly.

The president has a chance to make his mark on the central bank as the terms of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Vice Chair of Supervision Randal Quarles near their end. He will face pressure from progressives to pick reform-minded leaders, while moderate Democrats and Republicans in the narrowly divided Senate might favor reappointing Powell.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the market dislocations of the past year resulting from the pandemic had changed the impact that the supplementary leverage ratio was having on the largest banks. After temporarily easing the requirement, the central bank is considering longer-term reforms.

By 2023, the Federal Reserve expects to launch a service that would allow businesses and consumers to complete payments in real time. But a digital currency it's now studying could have similar benefits — while potentially removing the need for bank intermediaries.

Amid GOP criticism about the Federal Reserve’s focus on climate change issues, Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is striking the right balance by educating the public about risks to the financial system while not taking actions he says are better left to elected officials.

While cryptocurrencies could have benefits, they have “not served as a convenient way to make payments, given, among other factors, their swings in value,” said the head of the Federal Reserve. He also detailed imminent Fed research on a central bank digital currency.

A senior White House economic aide said the decision on selecting the next central bank chief will come after a thorough “process.”

The head of the Federal Reserve appeared to support Congress’s expanding the scope of the Community Reinvestment Act to unregulated institutions, just as regulators weigh how to modernize the framework for banks.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is dismissing claims that loose monetary policy has led to rising home values and shrinking inventory and insists that the market is buoyed by creditworthy borrowers and investors.

The heads of the Federal Reserve and Treasury are urging passage of legislation that would replace Libor with the Secured Overnight Financing Rate in certain contracts. That would spare banks litigation over trillions of dollars of contracts when Libor expires in 2023.

Top officials at the U.S. central bank and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reaffirmed their commitment to understand how extreme weather events affect financial institutions and the economy as a whole. Many Republicans, however, worry the Federal Reserve’s new climate focus strays too far from its traditional function.

The Federal Reserve will determine within days whether to extend the easing of the supplementary leverage ratio for big banks past March 31, Chairman Jerome Powell says. And it's a couple of weeks away from announcing whether there will be limits on second-quarter dividends and buybacks, he says.

As government debt swells, the outer limits of what the U.S. can safely borrow are becoming less and less clear.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said bank regulators still aim to write a universal rule updating the Community Reinvestment Act, despite years of disagreement between the agencies on how to proceed.

Chair Jerome Powell told a congressional panel that the Federal Reserve is weighing whether to extend temporary relief from the “supplementary leverage ratio” — meant to help banks lend more during the pandemic — beyond March 31.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank will consider the pace of coronavirus vaccinations and other factors to determine if restrictions on dividends and share repurchases will continue.

The Federal Reserve is credited with containing damage to the financial system from the coronavirus pandemic, but experts say the limits of the central bank’s power to prop up the economy will likely become more apparent in the new year.

His comments came a day after the Fed announced it had formally joined an international network of central bankers and regulators focused on mitigating climate risk to the financial sector.

The central bank will prolong the life of the Commercial Paper Funding Facility and three other programs while returning congressionally approved funds for five separate facilities that will shut down Dec. 31.

The Trump administration has compelled the Federal Reserve to shut down the Main Street Lending Program and other facilities that aid banks’ pandemic relief efforts, but President-elect Biden’s Treasury nominee could help turn the spigot back on.