Politics

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.

A clash among FDIC board members has intensified a debate about whether regulators should take a tougher look at large M&A deals. House Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters added to the frenzy by calling for a moratorium on approving big acquisitions.

The American Bankers Association urged the agency to maintain “an orderly, transparent policymaking process” after three Democratic directors had approved a board action without including Trump-appointed Chair Jelena McWilliams. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce went a step further, accusing them of trying to “circumnavigate” McWilliams’ authority.

The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions' new campaign highlights $243 billion in fines slapped on Wall Street banks. The group says it's responding to political attacks, but the banking industry says NAFCU is trying to distract from criticism of its tax exemption.

If the Democratic majority on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s board succeeds in advancing a review of bank merger policy — over the disapproval of Chair Jelena McWilliams — progressive regulators could be emboldened to push for more substantive reforms.

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.

The so-called reserves held by the issuers of stablecoins like Tether and USD Coin aren’t the risk-free assets that the term connotes. For all the public knows, they could largely consist of low-grade corporate debt.

The banking industry, which often questions aggressive moves by the agency, urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to level the regulatory playing field between the financial and technology sectors.

In an unprecedented move, two Democrats on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s board said they had approved a review of the policy without the consent of Trump-appointed Chair Jelena McWilliams. The agency released a statement saying the action had no legal standing.

Lawmakers approved legislation designed to protect trillions of dollars of assets when the London interbank offered rate expires.

Executives representing leading cryptocurrency firms such as Circle and FTX told Congress that some federal oversight of their industry is worthwhile, but they criticized a recent report by a Biden administration working group recommending that stablecoin issuance be limited to FDIC-insured banks.

Current regulations barring out-of-state banks from siphoning deposits from local communities are effectively toothless, as the experience in Miami has shown.

The economic tremors caused by the COVID-19 crisis led some analysts to argue that it was only a matter of time before some financial institutions collapsed. But thanks to government stimulus, the industry’s ample capital levels and moderate risk exposure, bank closings have become a rarity.

Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, pledged to make it easier for state attorneys general to draw on the Consumer Financial Protection Act in filing lawsuits against corporate wrongdoers.

Bankers say the Biden administration’s call for regulatory greater scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions is causing holdups and could slow dealmaking activity in 2022.

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 Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed standards to determine which companies must report their beneficial owners under a law enacted in January. Banks hope the new requirements will free them of the burden of collecting true-owner information about their customers.

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.

The city and the nonprofit Operation HOPE will offer $100 to kids from low-income households, with banks playing an assisting role. “Once you own some stock, once you have an account, now you're watching that grow and you’re a participant in the” financial system, said John Hope Bryant, the nonprofit's founder and CEO.

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.