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Appointed by Janet Yellen in 2021, Michael Hsu has served as acting Comptroller of the Currency longer than any predecessor. That arrangement is lawful and born out of political pragmatism, but some observers say it's a shortcut around Senate confirmation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new president will shape the direction of banking policy, but because financial regulators are more insulated from politics than many other areas, that transition will be gradual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governor Tim Walz, whom Vice President Kamala Harris selected as her running mate Tuesday, has a slight but progressive record on financial policy, suggesting a potential leftward shift in banking policy in a prospective Harris administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vice President Kamala Harris has kept a low profile in banking policy, and there is a reasonable expectation that her administration would pick up where Biden left off. But if she wanted to, Harris could reset Democrats' financial policy agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community banks are in the early days of experimenting with AI and the earlier days of writing policies to govern its usage. It's key to do both at once. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community banks are in the early days of experimenting with AI and the earlier days of writing policies to govern its usage. It's key to do both at once. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

House Republicans held a subcommittee hearing on reforming bank merger M&A, laying the groundwork to counter Biden administration efforts to make it more difficult for mergers to be approved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

House Republicans held a subcommittee hearing on reforming bank merger M&A, laying the groundwork to counter Biden administration efforts to make it more difficult for mergers to be approved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arkansas Republican is currently the vice chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and has a deep background in the banking industry and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The FDIC's newly unveiled policy statement on bank mergers could add strain to an already bleak outlook for mergers in the banking industry, particularly for larger banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A consortium of financial companies said premiums are rising despite a relatively low level of overall risk, causing some banks to reconsider their policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At least four conservative judges on the Supreme Court, a formidable group at the oral argument stage, appear ready to overturn 'Chevron' deference, which could have massive consequences for bank policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Former Trump Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia has been enlisted by the Bank Policy Institute to utilize his procedural expertise in advising on potential legal challenges to the Basel endgame capital proposal, as the banking industry intensifies efforts to challenge increased capital requirements for large banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

- John Reosti The Fed uses its entire toolkit to get the economy through the pandemic … The Federal Reserve's first big move in response to the coronavirus outbreak came on March 3, when it announced its first emergency interest rate cut since 2007. Days later, even before the outbreak was officially declared a pandemic, the Fed cut rates even further, to zero, and urged banks to use its discount window and even dip into capital reserves to access funds they might need to make emergency loans to customers. The minimum loan amount, which the Fed has already twice lowered, is $250,000, and many smaller businesses don't qualify for a loan of that size, bankers have reported. The Fed, through a special-purpose vehicle, purchases 95% of a loan made under the Main Street terms, but banks remain on the hook for the other 5% of the loan, making some lenders apprehensive. [Extracted from the article]

FSOC report One of the main assignments given to financial regulators by the Biden administration in May's executive order was a major report from the Financial Stability Oversight Council. October 20, 2021 WASHINGTON - How the Biden administration's focus on climate risk will affect regulators' oversight of the U.S. financial system is, slowly but surely, coming into view. SEC climate disclosures The Securities and Exchange Commission emerged as one of the most active financial regulators in trying to measure climate change risk in the U.S. financial system, even before Chair Gary Gensler's arrival at the agency in April. [Extracted from the article]

Senate Banking Committee ranking member Tim Scott, R-S.C., released one of his first major public  bank policy pushes in months after formally suspending his presidential campaign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Besides the San Francisco Fed's research, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York published a paper in January on monetary policy and racial inequality. April 06, 2021 WASHINGTON - For months, regulators and Democratic policymakers have shined a brighter spotlight on social disparities in the financial system and banks' climate-change risks. Toomey referred to such research by the Fed regional banks as "mission creep.". [Extracted from the article]

Cannabis banking, the Durbin-Marshall credit card bill and executive compensation legislation could be on the agenda this fall, but banking regulators' Basel III endgame proposal has made bipartisan compromise more complicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American Bankers Association and Bank Policy Institute Tuesday urged bank regulators to delay the finalization of its Community Reinvestment Act rule, saying regulators have not calibrated the rule to account for upcoming capital changes or considered whether courts will find the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure constitutional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bank Policy Institute and American Bankers Association want the Federal Reserve to conduct a public review process when determining scenarios for the annual exams. They also want more information on the test's internal models and formulas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A consortium of financial companies said premiums are rising despite a relatively low level of overall risk, causing some banks to reconsider their policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

March 11, 2022 With the recent departures of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Jelena McWilliams and Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles, banking supervision and regulation are likely to get strengthened. Large banks, like small banks, other financial firms and corporate entities of all types survived the pandemic without failing because the Fed flooded the financial system with more than $4 trillion in "liquidity", which could be viewed as an economywide bailout. [Extracted from the article]

Deutsche Bank's internal probe comes amid mounting signs that the lender has been clamping down on employees' use of private communications. WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT March 03, 2022 Deutsche Bank is conducting an internal probe into the extent to which staff used private messaging channels such as WhatsApp, amid a crackdown from U.S. regulators on banks that fail to store business-related communication. [Extracted from the article]

The Federal Reserve's monetary policy objectives are on a collision course with the post-2008 capital and liquidity framework, and it's time for regulators to decide what those reforms were for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New York State Department of Financial Services found that the community bank's policies led to minority borrowers paying more for auto loans. Though it did not find evidence of intentional discrimination, the bank agreed to pay a $950,000 fine and restitution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New York State Department of Financial Services found that the community bank's policies led to minority borrowers paying more for auto loans. Though it did not find evidence of intentional discrimination, the bank agreed to pay a $950,000 fine and restitution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

POLITICS AND POLICY December 09, 2021 WASHINGTON - A partisan battle erupted on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. board Thursday when Democratic members said they had approved a review of bank merger policy without the consent of the agency's Trump-appointed chief. The unprecedented clash began with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra and former FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg, who both sit on the board, announcing that the body had signed off on the review. [Extracted from the article]

Leaders of the Bank Policy Institute and The Clearing House say their conferences are neither profit centers nor potential conflicts of interest for regulators in response to a recent BankThink piece that describes the meeting as an example of overly cozy relationships between banks and regulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaders of the Bank Policy Institute and The Clearing House say their conferences are neither profit centers nor potential conflicts of interest for regulators in response to a recent BankThink piece that describes the meeting as an example of overly cozy relationships between banks and regulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bank Policy Institute and the American Bankers Association asked acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu to deny Sen. Elizabeth Warren's request to rescind Trump-era cryptocurrency guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bank Policy Institute and the American Bankers Association asked acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu to deny Sen. Elizabeth Warren's request to rescind Trump-era cryptocurrency guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WASHINGTON -- Bank regulators are undergoing a revamp ofbank merger rules, and large regional banks are squarely in theircrosshairs. Bank regulators are pushing large regional banks to have moredefinitive resolvability plans as part of their merger review, butsome observers say those requirements are effectively new capitalrequirements by other means. Regulators have specifically mentioned that large regional banks inmergers should think about Total Loss Absorbing Capital (TLAC)requirements that are imposed on the country's largest banks,requiring them to hold assets that would allow them to resolvewithout needing help from the government. [Extracted from the article]

June 14, 2021 WASHINGTON - A regulator's proposal to require climate risk disclosures for all public companies has divided large and small banks. "While their climate risk reporting systems may not yet be adequately developed to meet the requirements for financial filings with the SEC, SEC registrants should, nonetheless, be encouraged to disclose the climate risk management processes and the climate-related financial data they use", Gullette said. [Extracted from the article]

Ryan was known as a voice of state regulators and community banks,advocating that states have a central role to play as a check on federalauthority. Ryan, the chief executive of the Conference of State Bank Supervisorssince 2011, died unexpectedly Monday night at his home in Washington.He played a critical role in representing states' interests in some of themost important banking policy debates of recent decades. [Extracted from the article]

The Bank Policy Institute and the Financial Services Forumurged the SEC to narrow the proposal's scope, and to let anyguidance by bank regulators preempt rules written by theSEC. Specifically, they askedthe SEC to significantly curtail any "scenario analysis"requirements, arguing that bank regulators will likely soonadd them, and saying that complying with the SEC's proposalwould likely require banks to disclose sensitive detailsrelated to those exercises. [Extracted from the article]

He wrote that weighing issues around howa bank merger would affect consumers has "effectivelyevaporated as a constraint on bank mergers" in recent years. On the issue of large regional mergers, former FDIC headsSheila Bair and Thomas Hoenig said that presuming banks withmore than $100 billion of assets are systemically importantis "regulatory overreach.". [Extracted from the article]

Because of this elevated uptake of reserves and the regulatoryburden they ease, some market observers question how much oftheir Fed reserves banks will be willing to part with, and whatthis will mean for the Fed's long-term balance sheet aspirations. The Federal Reserve will begin shedding as much as $47.5 billionof assets monthly starting June 1 to tamp down on inflation. [Extracted from the article]

By Greg Baer February 26, 2021 As it inherits a sanction regime of vital interest to U.S. national security, the Biden administration should revamp banks' sanctions requirements to make them more targeted and otherwise more effective. The OFAC simply needs to issue a regulation that dictates bank sanction-related programs be risk-based and innovative, and then insist that the regulation be followed - by banks, and by their regulators. [Extracted from the article]

February 26, 2021 Environmentalists have called on banks to disclose the climate risks associated with their lending activities, but the short-term nature of most commercial lending makes it tough to tell what that risk could look like a decade later. In October, Ceres released a report suggesting that U.S. banks may be underestimating the climate risk in their lending and investment portfolios. One former banker told the nonprofit that in order for de-carbonization to happen within banks' portfolios, "it has to be a profit center rather than a cost center for the bank.". [Extracted from the article]

January 21, 2021 WASHINGTON - The Biden administration appears to be wasting no time attempting to unravel Trump-era financial policies. "There's more for [the Biden administration] that they feel that they should reverse or stop, because a lot of the views and a lot of the differences in views between Trump and Biden, whether it's on environmental affairs or health or financial regulation, are pretty wide apart", Katz said. [Extracted from the article]

OCC's "fair access" rule could be short-lived under Biden January 14, 2021 WASHINGTON - A new rule that aims to bar large banks from declining services to unpopular industries is unlikely to survive during the Biden administration, analysts say. President-elect Joe Biden's pick to succeed acting Comptroller Brian Brooks could revamp the regulation, congressional Democrats could attempt to repeal it through the Congressional Review Act or banks could seek to block the rule through with litigation. [Extracted from the article]

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has OK'd the fix, which was pulled into the omnibus from a bill introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers earlier this month. POLITICS AND POLICY President Biden has signed the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill into law, including two provisions tracked by the banking industry. [Extracted from the article]

December 17, 2020 WASHINGTON - Climate risk could take center stage in financial regulation under Janet Yellen, President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for Treasury secretary, as activists and investors are looking for the incoming administration to move decisively on global warming. Banks are already anticipating executive action on climate at the Treasury level under Yellen and the Biden administration, said Pigg. [Extracted from the article]

December 07, 2020 WASHINGTON - The coronavirus pandemic catapulted banks to the forefront of economic relief efforts, and the industry's success in facilitating financial support for consumers and small businesses has made 2020 in some ways a banner year for banking. "We know the Biden administration has said they're expecting a dark winter", said Christine Channels, the head of community banking and client protection at Bank of America, who took the reins of the CBA board in October. Weighing in on the banking policy environment, Channels said the industry is committed to modernizing the Community Reinvestment Act but is urging regulators to develop a consistent CRA reform framework across all agencies. [Extracted from the article]

November 25, 2020 Small banks that have ballooned in size during the coronavirus pandemic breathed a sigh of relief last week when federal regulators gave them a reprieve from tougher supervisory rules that kick in at certain asset thresholds. "The banking system by design was a conduit in terms of flowing fiscal support through banks in the form of PPP loans and at the end of the day that ends up being a risk of the federal government", Birmingham said. [Extracted from the article]

November 25, 2020 The banking industry is asking for more time to comment on a regulatory proposal that aims to prohibit banks from denying services to oil and gas companies and other firms in politically sensitive industries. "Our rule specifically acknowledges that climate change is a risk, and where that risk affects a bank's collateral or credit exposure the bank should quantify and manage that risk accordingly", acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks said in an email. [Extracted from the article]

November 20, 2020 WASHINGTON - Banks are closing in on what may be their last legislative victory of the Trump presidency with the addition of a key anti-money-laundering measure to a must-pass defense spending bill. While support for the legislation has been bipartisan, a number of Republicans, including Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, opposed the measure. Clark Gascoigne, senior policy adviser at the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition, added that small businesses see the benefits of stricter beneficial owner rules. [Extracted from the article]

In that scenario, Sen. Pat Toomey will likely chair the Senate Banking Committee, with current Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, expected to lead a different panel. Observers got a glimpse of the stark ideological differences between Toomey and Brown at a June Senate Banking Committee hearing with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. Mills agreed that while "Brown and Crapo could disagree without being disagreeable, … it will be a slightly greater challenge" between Toomey and Brown. [Extracted from the article]