Regulatory reform

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.