Politics

The state has a poor track record of managing customer-facing operations. It’s difficult to see an upside in the current push for a state-run bank — especially when neobanks are already offering the same services it would provide.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen defended Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s record on regulating the financial system amid attacks by progressives seeking to deny him a second term — even though in the past she’s expressed some misgivings about rulemaking under his watch.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council's guidelines for regulators avoided measures that banks feared such as fossil fuel loan limits and rigid new stress tests. But the panel is recommending rules that would require financial institutions to disclose their exposure to global warming.

Zions and BOK Financial are eager to meet the anticipated rise in loan demand despite regulatory attention on the financial risks associated with climate change.

A Louisiana panel delayed the approval of a $700 million state bond sale set to be underwritten by JPMorgan Chase as the attorney general pushes for information on the bank’s policies on gun control. 

Eric Halperin, a longtime consumer advocate, is the first big hire by the new director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Until we have true interoperability across payments platforms, competition will be stunted. Cryptocurrencies offer a model solution to breaking the hold banks and card networks have on consumer choice.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council issued a much-anticipated report with tentative recommendations on how regulatory agencies should begin preparing to contain the risk.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said the new ethics rules on securities trading by Federal Reserve officials are insufficient and reiterated her opposition to the renomination of Jerome Powell to a second term as Fed chairman.

The central bank's new ethics guidelines follow revelations that several high-level officers engaged in questionable trading activity last year while privy to the Fed's internal discussions about its coronavirus response.

From factoring global warming into the underwriting of government-backed loans to conducting "sensitivity analysis" of banks' ability to withstand severe weather, several government agencies are accelerating efforts to address the impact of climate change on the financial system.

Government must adapt supervision to account for fintechs, cryptocurrencies and other innovations. Otherwise it could contribute to a debacle like when it failed to grasp the impact that new financial instruments such as money market funds would have on traditional financial institutions.

Democrats proposed raising the account threshold and exempting certain transactions from a measure enlisting financial institutions’ help in catching tax cheats. But opponents say the changes are insufficient and centrist lawmakers — whose support is crucial to enact the plan — were mum.

A House member suggested she and other party moderates are open to revamping or even scrapping a plan that would require banks to report customer account information to the Internal Revenue Service.

Trade groups are challenging a provision of the CFPB’s payday lending rule that limits lenders’ ability to withdraw funds from a consumer's bank account after two consecutive failed attempts.

A central bank digital currency based on the U.S. dollar could pull deposits from banks, and it might crowd out innovative private-sector products.

Banks and other stakeholders are trying to stop a proposal requiring financial institutions to submit more account data, but the Biden administration says opponents of the measure are spreading the false notion that it would reveal information about specific transactions.

Gov. Randal Quarles is no longer vice chair for supervision, and the Federal Reserve Board will make bank regulatory policy only when multiple members reach consensus. Observers expect inaction until the Biden administration fills key leadership posts.

Democrats’ $3.5 trillion social policy package would appropriate over $300 billion for housing-related measures, including down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers. But those provisions could be on the chopping block as centrists try to trim the bill’s price tag.

Zixta Q. Martinez has been with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since its inception a decade ago and most recently was a senior advisor in the supervision, enforcement and fair-lending division.