CFPB – Federal Financial Analytics

20 09, 2023

DAILY092023

Eliza Allen2023-09-20T17:11:25-04:00September 20th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

Brown, Rounds Agree: AI Credit-Underwriting Warrants Regulatory Attention

At today’s Senate Banking hearing on AI in financial services, Chairman Brown (D-OH) argued that AI should be governed by the same rules as the rest of the financial system, with new law necessary if existing rules prove inadequate.

HFSC FinCEN Bills Draw Bipartisan Support

HFSC Chairman McHenry (R-NC) at today’s markup praised the scope of bipartisan support on today’s FinCEN, sanctions, and other national security bills.

HFSC Delays Bipartisan Sanction Bill Vote

Today’s HFSC markup also considered two bills addressing sanctions policy: H.R. 5512 from Rep. Sherman (D-CA) to require bank subsidiaries to comply with sanctions on Russia and Belarus and H.R. 760 from Rep. Barr (R-KY) imposing blocking sanctions on Chinese defense or surveillance companies and the third-party companies that supply them.

HFSC Dems Continue Strongly Opposing GOP Anti-CBDC Measure

The bipartisan spirit of today’s HFSC markup dissipated as Members fiercely debated H.R. 5403 from Majority Whip Emmer (R-MN), a bill that would bar the Fed from issuing a CBDC to individuals.

Gruenberg: New Shadow Bank Standards Would Cure a Capital Proposal Problem

FDIC Chairman Gruenberg today gave remarks arguing that FSOC along with OFR should establish a new reporting framework to assess the financial stability risks posed by nonbanks and ensure that public reporting is sufficient for market participants to understand nonbank counterparty risk.

HFSC Reports FinCEN, Sanctions, CBDC Bills

HFSC today unanimously reported H.R 760 sanctioning Chinese defense companies, H.R. 5512 requiring bank subsidiaries to comply with sanctions …

19 09, 2023

DAILY091923

Eliza Allen2023-09-19T18:11:29-04:00September 19th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

FSB Finally Takes Concrete CCP-Resolution Action

Following longstanding announcements that it would advance CCP resolvability, the FSB today released a consultative report recommending a toolbox approach to CCP resolution providing sufficient loss absorption and liquidity that is readily available and mitigates adverse effects on financial stability.

Treasury Advances Climate-Risk Principles, Not Mandates

Cautiously advancing the President’s climate-risk order (see FSM Report GREEN8), Treasury today released nine nonbinding principles for net-zero financing and investment encouraging financial institutions to focus on limiting scope 3 emissions by implementing robust net-zero transition plans.

CFPB Expands AI Crackdown

Expanding on last year’s adverse action guidance (see FSM Report FAIRLEND11), the CFPB today issued a circular stating that lenders – especially those using AI – cannot use CFPB sample adverse actions forms and checklists to deny consumers credit if the samples do not accurately portray the reasoning behind the denial.

HFSC Republicans Expand Attack From Capital to LTD Rules

Today’s HFSC Financial Institutions Subcommittee hearing on the economic consequences of the banking agencies’ slate of recent proposals showcased strong Republican concerns.

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18 09, 2023

DAILY091823

Eliza Allen2023-09-18T16:46:46-04:00September 18th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

Dems Slam Fed Climate Scenarios

Sens. Markey (D-MA), Warren (D-MA), Sanders (I-VT) and eight additional Democratic Senators and House Members sent a letter to Chair Powell today demanding that the Fed ensures that the financial institutions it oversees properly address the threat of climate change. Claiming that the Fed’s climate pilot scenarios are not sufficiently rigorous, the letter demands that the Fed require banks to submit and execute plans to align their activities with climate targets, such as reducing financed emissions.

Top Treasury Official Sounds Big-Tech Payments Alarm

Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Graham Steele Friday warned that Big-Tech firms’ entry into financial services could result in increased market concentration and predatory pricing, highlighting their ability to leverage existing commercial relationships as well as network effects. Mr. Steele also named consumer-data rights and junk fees as top priorities, praising the CFPB’s actions on personal data (see FSM Report DATA3) and credit-card late fees (see FSM Report CREDITCARD36).

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13 09, 2023

DAILY091323

Eliza Allen2023-09-13T16:46:21-04:00September 13th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

GOP Plans Still More Nails in CBDC Congressional Coffin

The memo for tomorrow’s HFSC CBDC hearing leaves no doubt as to continuing staunch GOP opposition, with Majority Whip Emmer (R-MN) reintroducing legislation barring the Fed from issuing a CBDC to individuals or using it to implement monetary policy.

FSI: Contingent Capital Fails as TLAC

Reinforcing the decision by U.S. agencies not to allow CoCo to serve as TLAC (see FSM Report TLAC9), a new BIS staff brief concludes that the current regulatory framework for Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds may not be fit for purpose, encouraging regulators to rethink CoCo as well as to consider heightening disclosure standards.

Gensler Emphasizes Prime Broker, Crypto, AI Risks

SEC Chairman Gensler today highlighted his ongoing worries about prime brokers, reiterating leverage and systemic-risk concerns.

Chopra Suggests Bank Merger Rewrite in Works

CFPB Director Chopra today reiterated the Bureau’s priorities, stating that the current bank merger review process lacks analytical rigor which will soon be addressed in ways he did not specify.

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7 09, 2023

DAILY090723

Eliza Allen2023-09-07T16:43:25-04:00September 7th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

FSB-IMF Report Lays Out Crypto-Policy Roadmap

The FSB and IMF today published a joint report synthesizing their policy and regulatory recommendations for cryptoassets, laying out a policy roadmap that breaks no new ground.

Senate Dems Try Again to End State Usury Ceilings

Senate Majority Whip Durbin (D-IL) yesterday introduced another effort (S. 2730) to impose a federal usury ceiling.

NGFS Warns Ecological Risk Could Be Systemic

The Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) today released a report on nature-related financial risk concluding that ecological risk transmission could cause contagion leading to systemic risk.

CFPB Soon to Advance Its Open-Banking Construct

CFPB Director Chopra today announced that the CFPB will be issuing proposed rules next month to reactivate its DFA consumer data rights powers (see FSM Report DATA3).

Global Securities Regulators Craft DeFi Standards

IOSCO today released a DeFi consultation report proposing nine policy recommendations intended to support heightened regulatory consistency and oversight.

Waters Presses Agencies to Change SSN Collection Requirements

HFSC Ranking Member Waters (D-CA) today wrote to the leadership of the banking agencies, Treasury, and FinCEN asking them to consider allowing financial institutions only to collect a SSN’s last four digits to minimize cybersecurity risks.

Fed Staff Suggest Solution to CBDC Privacy Problem

Addressing one of the biggest CBDC challenges in the U.S., Fed staff today published a report arguing that the use of privacy-enhancing technologies preserves digital asset user confidentiality while maintaining enough visibility for official audits in order to prevent illicit finance.

Daily090723.pdf…

29 08, 2023

DAILY082923

Eliza Allen2023-08-29T16:55:20-04:00August 29th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

Agencies Advance Controversial Long-Term Debt, Resolution Proposals

The FDIC, OCC, and FRB today tackled several critical resolution issues in the wake of recent bank failures, proposals that raise strong objections from regional banks despite FDIC and FRB unanimity today on at least one of them. As anticipated, the FDIC and FRB approved an NPR that would impose minimum long-term debt requirements for banks and BHCs with assets over $100 billion, with the FDIC and Fed boards voting unanimously in favor even as FRB Gov. Bowman strongly dissented despite a three-year transition period. Similar to the ANPR floating this rule (see FSM Report RESOLVE48), the proposal would require large banks to hold a minimum amount of eligible long-term debt equal to the greater of six percent of risk weighted assets, 3.5% of average total consolidated assets, or 2.5% of total leverage exposure for banks subject to the SLR.

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25 08, 2023

Daily082523

William Cross2023-08-28T11:55:32-04:00August 25th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

CFPB Heightens Attention to Elder Finance

The CFPB today proposed a new National “Age-Friendly” Banking Survey that would examine older adults’ banking challenges and give the Bureau greater insight into “age-friendly” account features, informing future policy work.

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27 07, 2023

DAILY072723

Eliza Allen2023-07-27T17:47:02-04:00July 27th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

FSB Tries to Calm CoCo Confusion

Doubtless responding to the CoCo chaos when Credit Suisse failed, the FSB today issued a report laying out how cross-border crisis-management groups are to handle unallocated TLAC (UTLAC) such as the “alternative Tier 1” bonds popular in the EU.

FDIC 3-2 Vote Presages Knock-Down Basel Battle

As anticipated, the FDIC today voted 3-2 to issue a sweeping rewrite of U.S. regulatory capital requirements.

Divided, Cautious Fed Advances End-Game, GSIB Rewrites

As anticipated, Gov. Bowman today voted against the new capital framework, as did Gov. Waller; as a result, the vote was 4-2.

Stablecoin Bill Advances, Compromises to Come

At a fiery HFSC markup today, Chairman McHenry (R-NC) announced that bipartisan negotiations had broken down largely due to the White House, choosing to proceed to a final package as he remains open to amendment before floor action.

House Republicans Skewer Basel Rules

Hill comment so far in response to the new capital rules is sparse.

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26 07, 2023

DAILY072623

Eliza Allen2023-07-26T16:37:20-04:00July 26th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

Senate Democrats Stand Firm On “Junk Fee” Campaign

Today’s lightly-attended Senate Banking Financial Institutions Subcommittee hearing on banking and consumer fees showcased broad Democratic alignment with the Administration’s “junk fees” campaign and persistent Republican aversion to this effort as well as to the CFPB.

CFPB Flags UDAAP, Other Problematic Practices for Enforcement

The CFPB’s latest supervisory report not only details recent actions and priorities, but also expressly stipulates that certain activities identified in the course of supervision that have yet to be addressed by formal agency action are UDAAP.

SEC Targets AI Advice

Acting as anticipated following Gary Gensler’s fiery talk last week about AI risk, the SEC today voted 3-2 to propose new rules curtailing what it believes to be broker dealer and investment-adviser conflicts of interest due to predictive analytics.

Crypto-Jurisdiction Bill to Advance; Stablecoin Measure Likely to do so Tomorrow

Chairman McHenry (R-NC) and Ranking Member Waters (D-CA) announced at today’s HFSC markup that bipartisan negotiations on the committee’s stablecoin bill continue and despite the absence of any breakthrough.

DOJ Officials Seeks Merger Answers

In remarks today, Policy Director David Lawrence of DOJ’s Antitrust Division went beyond new, draft DOJ/FTC merger guidelines (see FSM Report MERGER12) to lay out questions on which the agencies particularly seek answers.

Powell Stresses Bank Discount Window Readiness

FRB Chairman Powell’s press conference today focused almost entirely on monetary policy, but the chair agreed that the discount window performed badly during the recent crisis and that banks need to …

24 07, 2023

DAILY072423

Eliza Allen2023-07-24T17:00:47-04:00July 24th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

FDIC Clamps Down On Uninsured Deposit Reporting

Likely reacting to mid-size bank accusations that large banks are under-counting uninsured deposits, the FDIC today posted a financial institution letter highlighting that some financial institutions have incorrectly estimated uninsured deposits on their Call Reports.

Fed Archegos Order Lays Out Broader FBO Issues

Joining the U.K.’s record-breaking order, the Federal Reserve added $268.5 million to the $387 million fine imposed on Credit Suisse for governance and numerous other risk-manage failings related to its $5.5 billion Archegos loss. The Fed’s order is an important reminder that FBO branches may be held to full account for failings tolerated at the time by U.S. or home-country regulators (who today also joined in this enforcement action).

GAO Anticipating Mark-Ups, Calls for Stablecoin, Crypto Spot Market Legislation

Ahead of HFSC’s mark-up, GAO today released a report sure to be cited as it calls for statutory change to address regulatory gaps in stablecoins and spot markets. It notes that the lack of stablecoin reserve, disclosure, and redemption requirements may pose consumer-protection and financial-stability risks.

Daily072423.pdf…