Policy News from American Banker

Early industry reaction to the Federal Reserve's Basel III proposals points to potential capital relief for banks, though stakeholders say the complexity of the changes makes their overall impact unclear.

The reported reversal comes after the industry worried verifying citizenship would strain banks and push customers out of the system.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is charged with protecting the U.S. financial system, but its failure to implement a whistleblower program authorized in 2022 leaves the agency unable to capitalize on a key source of intelligence.

Trading bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is fine, but it's a sideshow: Blockchain is the underlying innovation that has the potential to change the way markets operate.

A first look at the capital plan suggests it moves the real estate finance industry closer to changes it lobbied for, but the devil may be in the details.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. rolled back a 2009 policy that banned nonbanks from buying failed banks, a move the agency says aims to widen the bidder pool and cut failure costs.

Federal regulators issued proposals Thursday to implement the final elements of the Basel III accords, adjust the global systemically important bank surcharge and implement standardized approaches for risk-weighted assets. The changes would reduce capital requirements for banks of all sizes affected by the rules.

The SEC is reportedly preparing a proposal that would give banks and other companies the option to report their earnings every six months, adding urgency to a long-running debate over how firms communicate with investors.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and 10 former officials filed amicus briefs that provide legal heft to banks battling the state of Illinois over a law that removes sales taxes and tips from interchange fees.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, in a post-FOMC meeting Wednesday, said he intends to stay at his post until a successor has been confirmed, adding that he will remain on the Fed board until a Justice Department investigation into him is concluded.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., one of the most pro-crypto lawmakers in Washington, said any compromise on stablecoin yield would have to be limited to prohibiting rewards for stablecoin holdings rather than a broader ban.

Jurors determined that Aaron Luneke, the former chief financial officer of Bank of the Valley in Nebraska, obtained millions of dollars in loans — including from his own bank — by inflating contractor bills for a new car wash business.

Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., said Tuesday that he expects the committee to work out a compromise between banks and crypto firms on yield-like rewards — a major sticking point in a market structure bill — by Friday.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Travis Hill said in remarks Wednesday that privacy and know-your-customer gaps remain for banks that work with public, permissionless blockchains, and that the agency may need to clarify how banks can interact with them. 

The Trump administration wants to reverse fair-lending laws; the Fed's rate setters will do exactly what they've already told everybody they're going to do.

Over the course of its first year in office, the second Trump administration has neutralized the enforcement of key civil rights laws by reorienting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules and eliminating "disparate impact" that allows banks to be penalized for the discriminatory effects of policies without proving discriminatory intent.

In an interview at ICE Mortgage Technology's annual conference, Bob Broeksmit also expressed skepticism of market dominance among just a few large lenders.

A Federal Housing Finance Agency report suggests it should have more authority over companies that work with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould encouraged the audience at a crypto conference Tuesday to weigh in on the agency's GENIUS Act implementation rule and said a separate anti-money laundering proposal from OCC and Treasury would be coming soon.

The Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to keep interest rates steady when it concludes its regular meeting tomorrow, but rising uncertainty about inflation in the wake of the Iran war is clouding the monetary policy outlook.