Regulatory reform

The president of the St. Louis Fed said that regulators should go back to the pre-Dodd Frank framework for small banks, while warning about changes to the system as fintechs expand their presence.

The current regulatory focus drives the growth of ever-larger, harder-to-manage and harder-to-regulate megabanks, while community banks have been left to be picked up by acquirers.

Senate lawmakers will soon introduce a bill that could more than quadruple the current $50 billion threshold to be considered a systemically important bank, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn said Monday.

Credit union trade associations commended the committee’s work that was the result of a two-day mark-up

The bills were individual pieces of the larger Financial Choice Act, including measures to raise the systemic threshold for banks and raise the threshold for banks subject to CFPB supervision.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created in part to ensure that nonbanks are subject to federal oversight, but the fact is that 99% of banks are exempt from CFPB supervision.

Cynthia Blankenship, an executive at Bank of the West in Grapevine, Texas, has been a regular in Washington for years fighting for regulatory changes. She is encouraging other bankers to do likewise.

Though FHFA Director Mel Watt stopped short of saying he would break with a Treasury agreement that forces all profits of the GSEs to go to the government, he emphasized that it couldn’t continue indefinitely.

The week of Oct. 2 is shaping up to be a significant one for the financial services industry on Capitol Hill, as lawmakers grill the top executives of Equifax and Wells Fargo, as well as the top regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Under the bill, regional banks may eventually be able to shed the systemically important financial institution designation that subjects those with more than $50 billion in assets to tougher regulatory requirements.

Sen. Bob Corker has been a key voice in the housing finance reform debate. His departure at the end of next year puts a deadline of sorts on his efforts to unwind and replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Janet Garufis has spent of the past year working to ease the regulatory burden on community banks.

Lawmakers like Sen. Tim Scott may feel differently about some elements in a Senate regulatory relief bill depending on whether CFPB Director Cordray is remaining in office until his term expires in July.

Some proponents of repealing crisis-era regulatory reforms argue that higher capital levels offer better protection. More capital is good, but it alone won’t solve every problem.

The democratic nominee has supported regulatory relief and small business lending for CUs

Efforts to persuade regulators to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to use alternative credit scores would stifle competition between the credit bureaus and FICO and do little to expand access to credit, according to industry analyst Chris Whalen.

The Trump administration is prepping recommendations to address shortcomings in the capital markets in a report to be released next month, a top Treasury Department official said Monday.

The House passed an appropriations bill that on the surface advanced key regulatory relief provisions sought by banks, but it could also open the door to higher examination fees, particularly for state-chartered banks.

Despite a direct request by six Democratic senators that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac be allowed to rebuild capital, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin did little to clarify the administration's thinking.

Department of Defense urged to exempt credit unions from July 2015 MLA amendments.