Regulation

The National Credit Union Administration this week will consider an interim final rule regarding its Central Liquidity Facility and changes to real estate appraisal requirements.

There is no doubt that many restaurants and merchants are struggling right now. But it makes no sense to hurt consumers and financial institutions by expanding failed policies like the Durbin Amendment, argues Jeff Tassey, chairman of the board for the Electronic Payments Coalition.

The agency's top supervisory official said the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review will proceed on schedule, and signaled that the Fed will look at how institutions are responding to fallout from the coronavirus.

Q1 profits expected to drop by nearly 25%, while investment banking revenues could tank much more; many banks have tighter standards than the SBA.

In blue states in particular, governors and attorneys general are taking up the mantle of consumer protection during the coronavirus emergency, effectively adding another layer of regulation to the patchwork of state and federal oversight.

After opening-day fiasco, SBA upgrades lender portal with Amazon assist; West Virginia’s First State Bank closed by regulators; BofA offers emergency loans to borrowers first, freezing out depositors; and more from this week’s most-read stories.

The maneuver could delay efforts by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to add another $250 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program.

Critics who argue this crisis mirrors the 2008 financial panic when Congress bailed out banks have it wrong. The new relief package in response to the coronavirus pandemic was necessary to save livelihoods, and more can be done.

The Federal Reserve and other regulators are planning to grant a sweeping capital break for banks providing loans to small businesses as part of the government's response to the coronavirus-fueled economic crisis.

The bank will be allowed to exceed the limit to enable it to make more small business loans; the CEOs of HSBC and StanChart are also donating part of their pay to coronavirus victim charities.