Regulatory relief

The announcement Tuesday by Sen. Orrin Hatch that he will retire at the end of the year could have a ripple effect throughout the Senate, including the leadership of the Banking Committee.

If acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney ultimately prevails in the lawsuit challenging his position, he is expected to continue implementing the most significant changes to the agency in its six-year history.

Over the past year, the focus of several banking policymakers has been how much the regulatory pendulum might swing back toward the industry’s liking. That theme will likely continue in 2018.

A regulatory relief package is likely to come out of the Senate in the new year, and lawmakers could follow it up with a housing finance reform push. But the midterm elections could cause some reform initiatives to grind to a halt.

Legislation advanced by the Senate banking panel has a good shot at passage, as long as lawmakers remain focused on helping community banks — not Wall Street.

Banking regulatory agencies Thursday announced that they would raise the aggregate loan commitment threshold for syndicated loans to be included in the Shared National Credit program from $20 million to $100 million.

The 2010 law does very little to constrain regulatory power, explaining why Republicans pushed for reforms during the Obama presidency and why, under President Trump, Democrats are so vigorously opposing agency management changes.

The House Financial Services Committee passed 13 bills (and scrapped a vote on one) Wednesday, including one that would stop Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from being released by the government and another hailed as helping the underbanked in rural areas.

House and Senate bills contain a provision that would let financial firms in all states use digital scans of photo IDs to verify identities of prospective customers. That could ease the account-opening process for consumers in areas where branches are few and far between.

House and Senate bills contain a provision that would let financial firms in all states use digital scans of photo IDs to verify identities of prospective customers. That could ease the account-opening process for consumers in areas where branches are few and far between.