Regulatory reform

The new group, which will work alongside the bank’s lobbyists and focus on policy at U.S. and overseas regulators, is being run by Kevin Bailey, an alum of the OCC and GE Capital.

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, the chairman of the House financial institutions subcommittee, said Wednesday that he plans to reintroduce a bill that would change the way banks are designated as systemically important.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo said Wednesday that although he plans to begin working on housing finance reform and changes to the Dodd-Frank Act, the poor relationship between Democrats and Republicans will hinder any progress.

Steven Mnuchin was confirmed 53-47 as Treasury secretary late Monday after two days of debate in which Democrats questioned the former banker's honesty.

Regional banks don’t pose risks to the financial system that have caused concern among policymakers, executives of 18 banks told top Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Congress.

Banks have spent years and billions of dollars to comply with post-crisis reforms. But with a new administration and Congress aiming to roll back the regulatory tide, whether those compliance costs go down is an open question.

Financial firms are going on offense in Washington, pressing a policy agenda that would have been unimaginable just a few months ago. Some proposals, like reforming the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, have been floated before while others began to gain traction after Republicans swept the November elections. Here's a look at some of the industry's requests.

The Federal Reserve Board should continue to focus on emerging systemic threats and work on exempting community banks from rules clearly aimed at larger institutions, said Fed Gov. Daniel Tarullo, who unexpectedly announced his pending departure Friday.

Instead of focusing on wanting deregulation, the industry should be driving home the credit union difference as the reason why CUs are worthy of special treatment.

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Daniel Tarullo will step down in April in a move that has profound implications for the central bank's oversight of banks.