Biden Administration

President Biden extended the pause on federal student loan repayments by another three months as the U.S. faces a fresh wave of COVID-19 cases from the omicron variant, removing a near-term threat to millions of Americans’ finances.

The Biden administration faces a growing backlash on social media for refusing to further extend a moratorium on student loan payments.

Sandra Thompson has won praise from homeownership advocates for suspending a fee imposed on borrowers that was meant to recoup Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's pandemic-related losses, among other actions she reversed. On Tuesday, President Biden said he will nominate her to be the permanent director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The United States is threatening to curtail transactions into and out of Russia to discourage it from invading Ukraine. The standoff heightens existing friction between U.S. payments companies and Moscow, which could impose new restrictions on them in response to sanctions.

President Biden said he had accepted Saule Omarova’s request that her nomination be withdrawn to be head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. She faced stiff opposition from banks and members of Congress over views that many saw as too extreme for a federal regulator.

The guessing game is over about President Biden’s pick for Federal Reserve chair, but several names are in the mix for three additional vacancies on the board, including vice chair for supervision.

Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called on Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Fed Chair Jerome Powell to be more aggressive in using their oversight of the financial system to combat risks associated with a warming planet. Recent recommendations from the Financial Stability Oversight Council do not go far enough, they said.

The home buying process has undergone significant changes. The pandemic has profoundly altered the mortgage lending market. The continuation of remote work, relocation out of key urban areas, a growing preference for online possibilities, and the deployment of artificial intelligence applications are only a few trends that are shaping the industry. Join Heidi Patalano, Editor-in-Chief of National Mortgage News and Beth O'Brien, Founder and CEO of CoreVest Finance as they discuss how lenders can stay competitive and meet the needs of home buyers in the fast evolving mortgage business.

Despite naming key leaders of the Federal Reserve this week, including renominating Chair Jerome Powell, the Biden administration delayed its pick for vice chair of supervision. Moving a nominee for the post later through the divided Senate could prove difficult, analysts said.

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.

President Biden said he’ll announce soon his choice of nominees for chair and other vacancies on the Federal Reserve, amid a scandal over stock trades by central bank officials.

Twenty-one centrist Democratic lawmakers raised concerns about the provision, which banks have fought to keep out of the social policy package. Meanwhile, the White House made no explicit mention of it in a draft summary of the bill.

Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a swing Democratic vote in deliberations over President Biden's social spending bill, signaled opposition to requiring financial institutions to report customer account information to help catch tax evaders. The measure "is going to be gone," he predicted.

In their first direct appeal to President Biden, financial institutions and other industries' trade lobbies called on the administration to abandon its proposal that would give the Internal Revenue Service new information on customer accounts.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council's guidelines for regulators avoided measures that banks feared such as fossil fuel loan limits and rigid new stress tests. But the panel is recommending rules that would require financial institutions to disclose their exposure to global warming.

Democrats proposed raising the account threshold and exempting certain transactions from a measure enlisting financial institutions’ help in catching tax cheats. But opponents say the changes are insufficient and centrist lawmakers — whose support is crucial to enact the plan — were mum.

Banks and other stakeholders are trying to stop a proposal requiring financial institutions to submit more account data, but the Biden administration says opponents of the measure are spreading the false notion that it would reveal information about specific transactions.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, the top GOP member on the Financial Services Committee, said lawmakers should take the lead in developing a policy framework for stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies. He criticized Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler for suggesting the agency already has authority to act.

The Federal Reserve chairman told lawmakers that the central bank wouldn't try to block other cryptocurrency providers if it decides to issue a digital dollar. At the same hearing, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen continued to defend a proposal requiring banks to report customer account information to the IRS.

Criticism from banking and other business groups of Saule Omarova’s candidacy could make it difficult for moderate Democrats to support President Biden's pick to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.