Dems Reintroduce Instant Funds Availability Bill
Sens. Van Hollen (D-MD) and Warren (D-MA) yesterday introduced S. 4946, a bill they also introduced in 2019 (see FSM Report PAYMENT16) to require banks immediately to offer instant funds availability. As Sen. Van Hollen noted yesterday (see FSM Report REFORM213), the measure is intended to force banks to ensure instant funds availability and thus press membership in FedNow. It stands no chance of passage in this Congress, but were it to pass now or next year, FedNow likely could not handle a sudden influx of retail transactions as it remains only in its advance pilot stage.
FRB Proposes Sweeping FMU Operational-Risk Update
The FRB today proposed an update to rules governing operational risk-management for certain systemically important financial market utilities (FMUs). These requirements were last updated in 2014 and thus did not account well for cyber-threats and technology changes. The revised rules would, among other things, focus on incident management and notification; business continuity management and planning; third-party risk management; and review and testing of operational risk management measures.