Setting an artificial deadline for approving bank mergers will result in hasty, ill-considered decisions. The potential damage to consumers and communities far outweighs the possible benefits.

The spending and tax package, which includes bank-friendly provisions, tax perks and GOP priorities, cleared a procedural hurdle after fiscal conservatives withdrew their objections over the weekend.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said the central bank is in the "early stages" of enabling banks to pledge assets to both the Federal Home Loan bank and discount window liquidity facilities.

U.S. banks are sorted into different regulatory regimes based on asset-size thresholds established in another era. Those classifications need to be recalibrated and indexed to inflation.

Firing 90% of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's staff and stripping it down to "the statutory studs" is lawful, an attorney for the CFPB told an appeals court.

In a dramatic move, conservative hardliners blocked President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill, which would have included many measures favored by banks.

Banks scored well in the tax bill out of Ways and Means this week, with wins on S Corps and rural lending, but have so far lost out on credit union taxes and additional burdens on payments competitors.