Banking Politics & Policy News
American Banker's Politics & Policy coverage delivers news and analysis on how legislative action, federal agency rulemaking, regulatory politics, and public policy debates shape banking strategy, risk, competition, and compliance. Coverage explores congressional priorities, executive branch initiatives, regulatory agency actions, and the political forces that shape and impact the operating environment for financial institutions, payments companies, fintechs and distributed finance companies.
Bank leaders must navigate a dynamic policy environment where congressional action, regulatory priorities, and political forces influence capital standards, supervisory expectations, digital asset frameworks, deposit insurance, consumer rules, and competitive dynamics.
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A new study has found that Black and Hispanic borrowers are denied conventional mortgages at higher rates than white applicants and pay up to $2,000 more to refinance.
June 9
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Sen. Pat Toomey, the top Republican on the Banking Committee, is demanding answers from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City about the status of a Fed master account for the Colorado fintech firm Reserve Trust, which had figured in a recent confirmation controversy.
June 9
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After blocking the Biden administration’s first pick for vice chair for supervision, five Republicans on the committee voted to approve Barr, clearing his path to confirmation.
June 8
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The Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau want financial institutions to provide more outreach to non-English speakers, a move that could foreshadow multilingual disclosure mandates.
June 8
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The top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee said he would vote for Michael Barr to serve as the Federal Reserve’s vice chair for supervision. The committee will vote on Barr this afternoon.
June 8
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Lauded as the first step toward comprehensive regulation of digital assets, the package hits at the heart of a critical debate between banks and fintechs: Who gets a Fed account?
June 7
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The letter from House Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters and Rep. Al Green points to laws passed by some state and local legislatures where financial institutions have been required to disclose whether they had ever profited from slavery in order to operate in their jurisdiction.
June 7
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As written, new capital standards for U.S. banks fail to account for the additional risk posed by many home loan clients who obtain second mortgages. Fixing the problem will significantly reduce the rule's benefit to banks.
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The only thing we know about the next financial crisis is that it won't look like the last one. But specific changes to bank safety and soundness requirements and clearer regulatory authorities would help us respond.
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In the year of the country's 250th anniversary celebrations, it's worth looking back at the long road the U.S. dollar took to global dominance, and the lessons we can learn from it.
