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 bipartisan group of House Financial Services Committee members says nonbanks as well as insured depository institutions should be allowed to issue cryptocurrencies pegged to U.S. dollars. That stance is a notable departure from financial regulators' recommendations.
February 8
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The March hearing, to be hosted jointly by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, is coming at a time when lawmakers and community groups are pressing federal agencies to apply more scrutiny to bank mergers.
February 7
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Six members of the Senate Banking Committee are asking questions about a flurry of lawsuits against credit card customers. The bank denies that it has resumed using robo-signing.
February 7
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Martin Gruenberg, who on Monday took the reins of the agency for the third time, vowed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. would set tougher standards for bank mergers, cryptocurrency-related activities and risk management tied to climate change. It will remain committed to CRA reform and support for minority banks, he said.
February 7
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CFPB Director Rohit Chopra launched an inquiry into so-called “junk fees,” with bankers and lenders countering that the fees they charge are related to specific types of work performed and that existing laws already prohibit excessive fees.
February 6
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Fifteen consumer groups said the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. appears to have “done nothing to curtail the predatory lending that has exploded on its watch.” They urged the agency’s Democratic board members to take action as Chair Jelena McWilliams, a Republican appointee, prepared to step down.
February 4
- AB - Policy & Regulation
Though Jelena McWilliams is leaving the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday, her comment could carry weight among regulators and lawmakers mulling the creation of a legal framework for private digital currencies and a federal insurance fund for them.
February 3
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Efforts by individual states to rewrite existing rules governing interstate bank lending risk throwing the entire system into chaos. Only Congress has the ability to reestablish a workable set of national rules.
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The new law's reciprocal and custodial deposit provisions recognize what the evidence has shown for two decades. They should spur, not substitute for, the broader work of protecting America's depositors.
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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.
