Regulatory relief

Democrats and Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee called for steps to minimize the harm to community banks and credit unions bracing for the new accounting standard.

As evidenced by a Senate hearing, Republican and Democratic lawmakers still live in alternative universes when it comes to financial regulatory policy.

Over a dozen progressive lawmakers urged the central bank to reverse its course and protect bank regulations enacted after the financial crisis.

The agency launched a review to gauge whether the regulation requiring consumers to opt in to overdraft protection “should be amended or rescinded” to minimize the effects on smaller financial institutions.

The bank plans rollout of a global cash management business; the lead Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee “not optimistic” about privatization.

Brian Johnson, a Republican political appointee at the CFPB, has been named the agency's deputy director, the No. 2 job behind Director Kathy Kraninger.

The agency launched a review to gauge whether the regulation requiring consumers to opt in to overdraft protection “should be amended or rescinded” to minimize the effects on smaller financial institutions.

Rodney Hood, chairman of the National Credit Union Administration board, will testify later this week before a Senate committee with CECL as a likely topic.

The industry has long complained that gathering the data is confusing and costly but two plans issued by the CFPB could help lighten the burden for a significant portion of credit unions.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council is shifting away from designating specific nonbanks and moving toward identifying activities that threaten the whole system. But some say that approach just weakens the council.

Lawmakers are poised to advance a bill requiring that commercial customers identify their beneficial owners — taking that burden away from their financial institution — but the anti-money-laundering reform arguably most favored by banks has fallen off the radar.

As the central bank board proceeds with reforms easing the post-crisis regulatory regime, the Obama-appointed governor has not shied from opposing the agency’s course.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed steps to ease Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requirements, just days after announcing it was retiring a platform to let users analyze raw mortgage data.

The head of the central bank declined to provide more specifics on efforts to simplify the ban on banks’ proprietary trading.

Director Kathy Kraninger said the agency will emphasize a confidential supervisory process instead of just doling out public enforcement actions. But skeptics worry this will let companies escape punishment.

With the candidates still introducing themselves to voters and honing their message, little has been said about the financial industry.

With the candidates still introducing themselves to voters and honing their message, little has been said about the financial industry.

Ex-Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., played key roles in negotiating the 2018 regulatory relief bill, but then went on to lose their re-election bids in the midterm elections.

The Fed wants to make it easier for investors to own big stakes in banks without triggering oversight; Shelley O’Connor has been named head of the firm's two regulated bank entities.

In separate letters to President Trump and the head of the FDIC, the Senate Democrat said the merger cannot be approved until all five seats of the agency's board of directors are filled.