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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The economic tremors caused by the COVID-19 crisis led some analysts to argue that it was only a matter of time before some financial institutions collapsed. But thanks to government stimulus, the industry’s ample capital levels and moderate risk exposure, bank closings have become a rarity.
December 8
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Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, pledged to make it easier for state attorneys general to draw on the Consumer Financial Protection Act in filing lawsuits against corporate wrongdoers.
December 7
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Bankers say the Biden administration’s call for regulatory greater scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions is causing holdups and could slow dealmaking activity in 2022.
December 7
- AB - Policy & Regulation
President Biden said he had accepted Saule Omarova’s request that her nomination be withdrawn to be head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. She faced stiff opposition from banks and members of Congress over views that many saw as too extreme for a federal regulator.
December 7
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The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed standards to determine which companies must report their beneficial owners under a law enacted in January. Banks hope the new requirements will free them of the burden of collecting true-owner information about their customers.
December 7
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The guessing game is over about President Biden’s pick for Federal Reserve chair, but several names are in the mix for three additional vacancies on the board, including vice chair for supervision.
December 5
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The city and the nonprofit Operation HOPE will offer $100 to kids from low-income households, with banks playing an assisting role. “Once you own some stock, once you have an account, now you're watching that grow and you’re a participant in the” financial system, said John Hope Bryant, the nonprofit's founder and CEO.
December 2
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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.
