Politics

The legislation, co-sponsored by six other Republicans, would apply federal lobbying and vacancy rules to regional Federal Reserve banks and close seven of the 12 existing banks.

The measure would reduce access to credit among junior service members, opening the door to payday lenders.

Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said the bank is "not making rapid progress" and hinted at the possibility of additional restrictions. But analysts saw positives for Wells in the $3.7 billion consent order.

The bill will require the agency to codify the use of desktop appraisals.

Legislation to open banking services to marijuana businesses was left out of a must-pass government funding package, ending a year-end effort to move it to President Biden's desk, a person familiar with the decision said.

Changes that began at individual banks in 2021 gained steam this year, as many large and midsize banks reduced their reliance on overdraft-related charges. Federal and state policymakers were key catalysts of the sea change.

The Senate voted to confirm Martin Gruenberg as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Travis Hill as its vice chairman and Jonathan McKernan to join the agency's board.

Financial institutions have launched tailored relief campaigns to help refugees begin rebuilding their lives.

The National Defense Authorization Act passed by the Senate did not include a pot banking provision, but did include provisions on Fed master accounts and allowing banks to hire ex-cons.

The outgoing chair of the House Financial Services Committee and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey led a new letter to the Government Accountability Office.

The National Credit Union Administration can no longer examine third-party vendors and service providers. That leaves the industry vulnerable to cybercriminals and other bad actors.

Many experts think the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding through the Federal Reserve could be the fatal flaw in the Dodd-Frank Act that created the agency, but differentiating the CFPB's structure from others may be tricky.

Texas lawmakers pressed finance industry executives they summoned to a remote corner of the state for a hearing Thursday, questioning whether their environmental, social and governance policies are hindering state pension investments.

Amid testimony from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra in front of the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Pat Toomey proposed that the agency should be funded in the congressional appropriations process.

With skepticism about cryptocurrency growing among members of Congress, a handful of lawmakers, including Republican Sens. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, are trying to convince colleagues that the FTX fiasco doesn't diminish the underlying value of digital currency.

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by half a percent this week, but chair Jerome Powell said the question now is how long to keep monetary policy tight.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has proposed a rule to modernize representations of insured deposits and finalized guidelines for appeals of material supervisory determinations.

The Texas Attorney General's office will decide by Jan. 13 whether Citigroup "discriminates" against the firearms industry, a ruling that will determine the bank's ability to underwrite most municipal bond offerings in the state.

The ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee discusses his bid to bring transparency to the Federal Reserve, partnering with Elizabeth Warren and what's next for his career.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., have joined forces to subject regional Fed banks to heightened public scrutiny. How long the coalition lasts depends on what that new scrutiny reveals.