Here It Comes…
As anticipated, the banking agencies will get their capital proposals out before the August recess but close enough to it to avoid – or so they hope – a withering gauntlet of House hearings. By the time Congress reconvenes in September, the agencies expect – and with good reason – that the new rules will escape notice because attention will have turned to the most vexing issues confronting this divided Congress, most notably keeping the federal government open at the end of the fiscal year. Acting now also ensures that, even if the agencies give ground and concede to the industry’s 120-day comment deadline, at least one month of that will fly by in August, putting the timeline for issuing a final capital rule into the first quarter of 2024 and thus beyond the reach of Congressional Review Act repeal should Republicans muster enough support and the President somehow recants.