Politics

Democrats still want to move President Biden’s five Federal Reserve picks together through the full Senate. But the chamber’s rules will make that tough to accomplish unless Sarah Bloom Raskin can come to terms with GOP lawmakers opposed to her nomination.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is raising concerns about exclusive government contracts and the fees that recipients of public benefits get charged. “Barriers to choice kill competition and can harm families who need every dollar to make ends meet," said Director Rohit Chopra.

Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee skipped its scheduled vote on five Federal Reserve appointees, preventing a quorum. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell echoed concerns raised about nominee Sarah Bloom Raskin, saying she wants the Fed to become an “ideological left-wing activist body” that interferes with private-sector credit decisions.

Republicans urged federal authorities to take a light-touch approach to regulating stablecoins during a Senate Banking Committee hearing, while Democrats intensified demands for strong consumer protection.

GOP lawmakers are considering a plan by Sen. Pat Toomey, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, to boycott Tuesday’s committee votes on Raskin and President Biden’s four other Federal Reserve nominees. Such a move would deny Democrats a quorum to move forward.

A crucial centrist vote among Democrats, the Montana lawmaker and Senate Banking Committee member predicts the full chamber will support Raskin's nomination for vice chair for supervision of the Federal Reserve Board if she advances out of committee on Tuesday.

Sarah Bloom Raskin, President Biden’s pick to be the Federal Reserve Board’s vice chair for supervision, has had a distinguished career as a state and federal banking regulator. Her belief that banks should identify assets that are subject to climate-related shocks sounds like basic risk management, not a radical call to action.

A federal judge last week upheld "valid when made" rules that support such arrangements. But analysts say an appeals fight is likely, and new leadership at the OCC and FDIC could change the agencies' view of interest rate exportation across state lines.

“Ancillary parties who cannot get access to information that is useful to the IRS are not intended to be captured by the reporting requirements for brokers,” Treasury Department Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs Jonathan Davidson told lawmakers.

Dennis Gingold, co-founder of the Reserve Trust company, says Republican allegations that central bank nominee Sarah Bloom Raskin behaved unethically in interacting with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City while serving on the company's board are “completely false.”

The registry created by the law — whose implementing rules are being written now — is worse than useless, pairing unverified data with severe penalties for misuse. It will confuse bankers, burden small businesses and embolden crooks.

Democrats cited the increasing share of home purchases by Wall Street firms while Republicans pointed to rising conforming loan limits and other measures by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committee hearing.

Pat Toomey, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee said Congress should weigh an overhaul of the U.S. Federal Reserve Regional Bank system and consider consolidating regional banks that are “wandering” into issues such as climate change.

"In many cases, these are fees where there's not even a service provided or where the bank or financial institution doesn't even do any work,” Rohit Chopra of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday in public remarks.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston announced that Susan Collins, an economist currently at the University of Michigan, will be its new president, marking the first time a Black woman will lead one of the U.S. central bank’s 12 districts.

Martin Gruenberg, who became acting chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. this week, has named a chief of staff, chief operating officer and general counsel. Their predecessors stepped down last week along with former Chair Jelena McWilliams.

The country that gets it right first will see rapid business and job creation, attract the world’s best and brightest minds and set the standard other nations will follow.

European regulators are telling the region’s banks to keep a close eye on potential hacking attacks as tensions with Russia rise over Ukraine.

A bipartisan group of House Financial Services Committee members says nonbanks as well as insured depository institutions should be allowed to issue cryptocurrencies pegged to U.S. dollars. That stance is a notable departure from financial regulators' recommendations.

The March hearing, to be hosted jointly by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, is coming at a time when lawmakers and community groups are pressing federal agencies to apply more scrutiny to bank mergers.