Politics and policy

Attorneys general from 19 states issued subpoenas to six large banks seeking information about their climate policies. They say they're seeking to hold banks accountable for the fairness of their ESG policies to fossil-fuel companies, but others call it intimidation.

If stablecoins facilitate payments in the future it could have broad implications, acting Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Martin Gruenberg said.

Any limitations on the distribution of pandemic relief and other payments are the result of instructions from the IRS, or the Federal Reserve's failure to operate a 24/7 payments system — and not shortcomings of the automated clearing house network, writes the head of Nacha.

The bank regulators said they are open to all possibilities as they sought input on potential changes to resolution policies for large regional banks, but that hasn't stopped policy specialists from reading between the lines.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has been raising the alarm bells about fraud on the bank-owned payments platform, but independently verifiable data that might inform policymaking is hard to come by.

The regulators laid out several measures that would change how large but not global systemically important banks capitalize and structure themselves.

For some bankers, net zero is like a new year's resolution — a pledge one makes and often breaks before a year has passed.