Politics

As Visa and Mastercard move swiftly to limit their business in Russia, their nascent rivals face a challenge to fill the gap.

U.S. payment giants like Visa, Mastercard, American Express and PayPal — along with smaller companies like Paysera in Lithuania — have blocked transactions or pulled out of Russia and Belarus in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

President Biden is set to sign an executive order this week that will outline the U.S. government’s strategy for cryptocurrencies, according to several people familiar with the administration’s plans.

Sberbank said it’s looking at the possibility of issuing cards using the Russian payments system Mir and China’s UnionPay after Visa and Mastercard suspended operations following the invasion of Ukraine. 

U.S. credit unions that serve Ukrainian immigrants are coordinating efforts to provide aid in Ukraine while bracing for cyberattacks at home.

A portion of Goldman Sachs Group’s Russia staff is relocating out of the country as firms react to a global effort to shut off the Russian economy after the invasion of Ukraine.

The companies' moves came a day after Visa and Mastercard said they were halting business in Russia because of its attack on Ukraine.

The White House is rejecting Republican demands to split up its nominees to the Federal Reserve, with President Biden’s spokeswoman telling GOP lawmakers to show up and vote no on Sarah Bloom Raskin rather than further stalling consideration.

Russia reverberations, a rebranding, a resignation and more in banking news this week.

Senate Democrats insist the GOP's boycott of President Biden's picks for the Federal Reserve is interfering with the central bank's handling of an economic crisis. But GOP lawmakers say the Fed is functioning fine and their concerns about nominee Sarah Bloom Raskin are material.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen outlined steps the department is taking to mitigate climate risk, including a report on the regulatory gaps in the insurance industry.

Lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee clashed over the stalled nominations of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and four others Wednesday. It was a prelude to the fireworks that could occur Thursday when Powell is scheduled to testify before the Senate Banking Committee.

Mastercard said it got about 4% of its net revenues last year from business linked to Russia, as Western nations level sanctions against the country for its invasion of Ukraine.

The president highlighted the economic pain his sanctions have inflicted on Russia during his first State of the Union address, and called on the Senate to confirm his slate of nominees to the Federal Reserve.

The impact of U.S. sanctions against Russia on U.S. banks has so far been limited. But further escalation could lead to anti-money-laundering compliance challenges and invite cyberattacks, among other consequences.

The Federal Reserve Board is taking a fresh look at how financial firms get coveted access to the U.S. central bank’s payment system — a controversial question that’s weighing on President Biden’s pick to be Wall Street’s top bank regulator.

Lawmakers in New Mexico recently approved a stringent rate limit, and similar efforts are underway in Rhode Island and Michigan. The state-level actions are among the "numerous headwinds" facing high-cost lenders, one analyst said.

The European Union is discussing the exclusion of seven Russian banks from the Swift financial messaging system, but the proposed list spares the nation’s biggest lender and a bank part-owned by the Russian gas giant Gazprom. 

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said disconnecting Russian banks from the Swift messaging system may bring “unintended consequences” that include third parties finding ways around the penalty.

CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said the bureau is concerned that the spike in car prices, due partly to the global chip shortage, could create incentives for servicers to illegally seize vehicles for their resale value.