Regulatory reform

There is bipartisan agreement in the Senate that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are "too big to fail," but some lawmakers are skeptical that a SIFI designation is appropriate.

The House passed a spending bill amendment aimed at providing further clarity to banks looking to provide services to cannabis businesses.

While a bill to require firms to identify their owners has gained bipartisan support, some small companies argue it is burdensome and would subject them to harsh penalties.

In her first four and a half months, Kathy Kraninger met with lawmakers more than twice as often as her predecessor, but her schedule demonstrates willingness to meet with industry and policy stakeholders from various camps.

The new regulation mandated by Congress expands eligibility for a simplified reporting form to financial institutions with $5 billion of assets.

There are clear actions that regulators at the CFPB, SEC and FHFA can take to help attract investors into the housing market, argues former FHFA Director Ed DeMarco.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has appeared willing to take its own steps to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but legislation would be necessary to create an explicit guarantee of the mortgage system.

Stress tests have come a long way since first unveiled to shore up confidence in banks. But some critics fear that proposals to make the system more efficient would compromise its safety.

The head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. previously had said regulators were weighing numerous options for addressing criticism of their 2018 proposal.

Director Mark Calabria urged lawmakers to grant the agency chartering authority similar to that of bank regulators to boost competition in the mortgage market.

With campaigning for the 2020 presidential election already underway, it could become increasingly difficult for the industry to move meaningful legislation through Congress.

Recent legislation zeros in on letting financial institutions serve cannabis businesses in states where the substance is legal, but banks may stay on the sidelines if the federal ban on pot remains in place.

The agency announced the series in April as an effort to encourage public dialogue on policy issues.

The bipartisan House effort to delay the Current Expected Credit Loss standard comes less than a month after Republican senators introduced a similar bill.

The top Democrat on the Banking Committee suggested the absence of data brokers at a hearing on privacy legislation was "cowardice."

The good news for financial firms is Congress has moved closer to reforming anti-money-laundering rules. But left behind in the effort is the reform most coveted by the industry.

The legislation includes a beneficial owner requirement and steps to study the utility of industry reporting, but avoids relieving banks’ burden to file data on suspicious transactions.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was adamant that the Trump administration won’t just let Fannie and Freddie build up their capital buffers and then release the companies. He also said he backed an explicit government guarantee, something only Congress can do.

Despite tension between the U.S. and trading partners, bank are doing booming business in financing cross-border commerce; some Republican lawmakers are getting antsy at the pace of rollbacks for bank regulations, and are pushing regulators for a sense of urgency.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has far more authority to upend the status quo than most realize, according to a new report.