Fed, FHFA Leadership Advance

As anticipated last night, the Senate Banking Committee yesterday advanced all the Fed nominations and that of Sandra Thompson as FHFA director.  However, Lisa Cook’s nomination was tied on a strictly partisan basis, meaning that it was not approved by Senate Banking but is nonetheless discharged to Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY).

HFSC Hikes Array of Anti-Russia Sanctions

In the first of a series of markups, HFSC today approved 5 bills ramping up sanctions against Russia and Belarus.  The most controversial of them, H.R. 7080 (Waters, D-CA), would broaden FinCEN’s ability to obtain information about the transactions of Russian oligarchs in the US.

Chopra Uses Rate Hike to Press Competition Inquiries

Describing the CFPB as “the arm of the Federal Reserve System that is fully focused on consumers,” Director Chopra today issued a statement following yesterday’s rate hike.

Senate Democrats Take Turns Whacking Wells Fargo

Senior Democrats today took sharp issue with Wells Fargo’s refi lending, asserting it was discriminatory and seeking an array of data from the bank and action by federal agencies.  Senate Banking Chairman Brown (D-OH), Majority Whip Durbin (D-IL), and other senators called on HUD and the CFPB to investigate findings in a recent Bloomberg story, confining their comments to a general attack on discrimination without setting a date for a reply or any specific matters the agencies are to review.

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