Trump administration

Fintech firm IntraFi's most recent quarterly survey of bank executives showed rising pessimism among bankers related to "instability in Washington," as well as growing concerns about technology-enabled fraud.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said in a social media post Friday morning that the Justice Department is closing its investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, clearing a path for Kevin Warsh to be confirmed as Powell's replacement.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday defended cuts to the Community Development Financial Institution Fund in the president's 2027 budget, telling the Senate Appropriations Committee that the program had pursued a "partisan wish list."

Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Federal Reserve, denied that he would act as Trump's "sock puppet" if he's confirmed and said the president has directed him to lower interest rates.

As the Senate Banking Committee is slated to consider the nomination of former Federal Reserve Gov. Kevin Warsh to lead the central bank, an ongoing investigation by the Justice Department into Fed chair Jerome Powell makes the nomination's passage out of committee uncertain.

The former Fed governor's upcoming confirmation hearing will test whether he can satisfy both a president demanding lower rates and a Congress demanding independence.

Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought told the House Budget Committee Wednesday that the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund is still a target for elimination by the administration because it promotes "woke" ideology.

President Donald Trump said he would fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell if he does not resign after his term as head of the central bank ends in May. Trump made a similar threat against Fed Gov. Lisa Cook before attempting to fire her last August.

Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is pushing the Federal Reserve for records related to Fed chair-designate Kevin Warsh's actions as a member of the Fed board during the 2008 financial crisis.

Former Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles, who served during President Trump's first term, said members of the Fed board should be removable by the president, but that the decentralized structure of the Fed will ensure that monetary policy decisions remain sound.

A rule banning bank examiners from using reputational risk in their examinations includes an exception for operational risks — another notoriously unquantifiable category of risk. Experts say the concession suggests the attempt to carve subjectivity out of bank examination may amount to a relabeling exercise.

The FDIC board voted unanimously to issue a proposal putting a rebuttable ban on bank-issuers paying yield on stablecoins, another narrowing AML requirements and a third prohibiting examiners using reputational risk in exams, outside of operational or financial risks.

The White House's proposed 2027 budget would slash funding to the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, the latest in an ongoing campaign from the Trump administration to dismantle the politically popular program.

The partnership between the long-established bank and the fintech brokerage will handle the development of the government-owned account platform behind the new government-seeded retirement accounts for children. 

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s Office of Inspector General said in a Thursday report that staffing cuts over the past year could strain supervision and the agency's response to a crisis.

A recent executive order encouraging changes to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Ability-To-Repay and Qualified Mortgage rules are adding to a packed agenda at a time when the agency has lost a third of its staff.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council Wednesday published a proposed guidance focused on designating activities rather than individual firms for heightened prudential standards, making it more difficult for the council to designate firms going forward.

What was once a bipartisan and broadly popular housing bill has been weighed down with a pair of provisions that banks can't support. Even with those headwinds, the bill is more likely than not to pass, but not without drawn-out negotiations between the House and Senate.

A federal judge said Friday that the Trump Organization will have three months to collect new evidence and refile its complaint. It alleges that Capital One illegally closed hundreds of its accounts following the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol.

A rumored executive order that would require banks to verify the citizenship of their account holders would be incredibly burdensome for banks. It would also result in the "debanking" of untold numbers of Americans.