Biden Administration

The Department of Justice in the Trump administration hatched a plan to consider reforming its bank-merger review process, raising industry hopes about overhauling the outdated regime. But progressives want the agency to give more thought to the harm bank combinations cause consumers, including further branch closings.

President Biden said he hasn’t spoken with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell since taking office more than two months ago, citing respect for the central bank’s independence and marking a sharp turn from his predecessor, Donald Trump.

Policymakers have scrutinized social disparities in the financial system and banks' climate-change risks. That has led to a new line of attack from Republicans who say agencies such as the Federal Reserve should stay in their lane.

The agency announced it was rescinding seven policy statements issued last year meant to help companies combat fallout from COVID-19 but that the bureau's current chief said came at the expense of consumers.

Legislation the president signed this week will extend the deadline for the Paycheck Protection Program to May 31 from March 31, giving businesses two additional months to apply for loans.

Although the Federal Housing Administration's insurance fund is "well above" its legal minimum, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge said the mortgage agency has no plans to cut prices.

The full Senate could deadlock on Rohit Chopra’s nomination as the Banking Committee did. If that happens, Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to cast the decisive vote in his favor.

Mehrsa Baradaran, a University of California, Irvine, professor and former banking lawyer, has worked hard to close the racial wealth gap and could further such goals as head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, wrote 34 caucus members in a letter to President Biden.

Former Obama-era regulators Kara Stein and Sarah Bloom Raskin, as well as Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, have joined the field of potential nominees to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, according to sources familiar with the process.

The Treasury Department and U.S. regulators aim to boost demand for assets that tackle climate change, while preventing companies from making claims that could be considered “greenwashing,” or overstating the significance of emissions reductions and sustainability efforts.