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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Citigroup says it’s prepared to restart its public-finance business in Texas after halting the operations in the wake of a new Republican law in the state that sought to bar it and other banks from such work as punishment for restrictive gun policies.
November 9
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Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard was interviewed for the top job at the U.S. central bank when she visited the White House last week, according to people familiar with the discussions. She and Fed Chair Jerome Powell are the only people who have publicly surfaced as being in the running for the post.
November 9
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Directors can urge executives to move more quickly in gauging their institutions’ vulnerability to extreme weather events, said acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu. He offered a list of five questions every board member should ask senior leaders about their progress.
November 8
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Randal Quarles, who oversaw an easing of post-financial crisis rules as the Federal Reserve’s vice chair of supervision, announced he will resign at the end of this year. His departure will leave President Biden with another open seat to fill on the central bank’s board.
November 8
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Under federal law, individuals with criminal records must receive government approval to work at a bank. Leeway has been granted over the years, but now the industry plans to lobby Congress to eliminate major hiring hurdles.
November 5
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Fearing government intrusion, financial institutions’ own clients rallied against the Biden administration plan for their account information to be shared with the IRS. Their involvement added weight to the industry’s opposition.
November 5
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Senior congressional Democrats are concerned that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network — an arm of the Treasury Department — is dragging its feet on a rulemaking to require corporations to report their beneficial owners.
November 4
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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.
