Opinions

A report from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, released Thursday found that most sudden account closures were spurred by supervisory pressure rather than political or religious bias on the part of the banks, a finding that is at odds with the White House's framing of the issue.

The Trump administration's decision to launch a criminal investigation of the Federal Reserve chair is a blatant abuse of power that threatens to undermine confidence in the financial stability of the U.S.

Following President Trump's aggressive bank deregulation agenda, the FDIC and OCC, and occasionally the increasingly politicized Fed, are in a race to slash compliance requirements. Bankers should remember that the pendulum can always swing back.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank has been served grand jury subpoenas and been threatened with criminal indictment, moves he called "pretexts" to influence interest rates through "political pressure or intimidation."

Jelena McWilliams, former chair of the FDIC, is joining data sharing fintech Plaid as its new president of corporate and external affairs.

As the Federal Reserve's quantitative tightening efforts fade into history, the major engine of economic growth in the U.S. will be bank lending. Regulators should keep a close eye on where those dollars are going.

Employers added 50,000 jobs in December, with gains in service industries while broader sectors remained mostly flat, supporting the Fed's cautious stance on further rate cuts.

The proposed rule codifies the ability for trust companies to conduct non-fiduciary activities, something banks say Congress never intended, but that OCC says has long been the case.

The Federal Reserve will resume accepting pennies from banks and credit unions at all commercial coin distribution locations beginning Jan. 14. The central bank had ceased accepting pennies at some distribution centers late last year, but bankers praised Thursday's reversal.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill's community-banking package includes reciprocal deposits, tailoring and many other items on community bankers' wish lists.