Biden Administration

Graham Steele, a former Senate Banking Committee staffer who has supported strong regulation, was named as the administration's choice for assistant secretary of financial institutions.

The president's working group on financial markets met in advance of a report expected within months on growth in digital currencies pegged to the U.S. dollar.

President Biden nominated Judith D. Pryor as first vice president of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S., the nation’s official export-credit agency.

The president has a chance to make his mark on the central bank as the terms of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Vice Chair of Supervision Randal Quarles near their end. He will face pressure from progressives to pick reform-minded leaders, while moderate Democrats and Republicans in the narrowly divided Senate might favor reappointing Powell.

The economic forces driving dealmaking will overcome any regulatory risk posed by the president's call for stricter vetting of bank merger applications — especially among community banks, experts say. The White House push could even nudge some executives to cut deals sooner.

The White House is calling on the Department of Justice and federal regulators to give bank deals more scrutiny as part of a broader executive order meant to encourage competition across the U.S. economy.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency recently became the third agency along with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau without a Senate-confirmed leader. But analysts say the appointment of interim chiefs gives the administration even more control over regulatory initiatives.

The White House's firing of Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria sparked immediate speculation about who will run the agency and help chart the future of the two mortgage giants. Potential nominees include ex-Obama administration officials, congressional staffers and members of the Biden transition team.

The chief operating officer now oversees numerous divisions at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. But as part of a reorganization, the COO’s position is being eliminated and several units will come under the direct authority of the comptroller.

The number of grievances about evictions and federal student loans declined between January 2020 and May 2021. Nonetheless, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned financial firms that poor customer service can undermine government efforts to provide aid.