#Chopra

15 12, 2023

Al121823

2023-12-15T16:56:09-05:00December 15th, 2023|3- This Week|

Switching from Tea to Gatorade

As we noted, CFPB Director Chopra has referred to the Financial Stability Oversight Council as a “book-report club.”  We don’t disagree – each lengthy annual report has seemed more a compendium of financial-sector facts than a guide to action based on any of them.  However, last week’s FSOC meeting seemed to move from reading to at least talking about intervening, with the readout making it clear that hedge funds are first on the systemic chopping block now that the Council has finalized its systemic methodology (see FSM Report SYSTEMIC98).  Mr. Chopra is especially emphatic about the need to use FSOC’s newly-revised designation power (see FSM Report SIFI37) to name names and set standards.  His target is big tech and the Council’s report this year and its focus on AI may move it slightly in that direction at some future point.

Al121823.pdf

14 12, 2023

DAILY121423

2023-12-15T17:22:54-05:00December 14th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

Top Senate Democrats Heighten Payment App Scrutiny

Continuing to shift their focus from Zelle to payment-service providers, Senate Banking Chairman Brown (D-OH) along with Sens. Reed (D-RI) and Warren (D-MA) today sent letters to Paypal and CashApp urging them to adopt new scam-reimbursement policies.

Treasury Defends Russian Sanctions, Economic-Warfare Clout

Facing increasing assertions that U.S.-led sanctions are not meaningfully affecting Russia, Treasury today issued a blog stoutly defending sanctions effectiveness.

Reed Presses OFR to Subpoena Shadow-Bank Data

The principal sponsor of the Dodd-Frank provisions creating the Office of Financial Research, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), today defended the agency on grounds that it lacks a confirmed director, promising to push the appointment on the floor as quickly as possible.

Basel Targets Stablecoin Reserve-Asset Risk

Moving forward with “targeted” changes to current standards, the Basel Committee today outlined revisions to its crypto standards with significant practical implications.

Liang Disputes Over-Arching Need for New AI Regs

Treasury Under Secretary Liang today argued that AI is not fundamentally different than other financial innovations and is already subject to existing consumer-protection, safety-and-soundness, illicit-finance, and financial-stability guardrails.

FRB-NY Official Highlights AI Promise, Problems, Policy Action

Summarizing a recent Federal Reserve Bank of New York AI conference, the Bank’s chief risk officer, Mihaela Nistor, concluded that AI can now identify GSIB and GSIFI risk due to its ability to detect tail behavior not now captured by relevant models.

Democrats Urge CFPB to Take Second Stand Against Forced Arbitration

Sens. Warren (D-MA) and Sanders (I-VT) were today …

13 12, 2023

DAILY121323

2023-12-13T16:50:12-05:00December 13th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

HFSC Oversight Subcomm Revisits Iran Sanctions

Today’s HFSC Oversight Subcommittee hearing focused on the Biden Administration’s recent efforts to limit terrorist funding from Iran.  Chairman Huizenga (R-MI) questioned the need for the November 14th renewal of a waiver that allows Iraq to pay Iran for electricity, calling for increased pressure on Iran following Hamas’s October 7th attack.

SEC Sets Out Treasury Central-Clearing Construct

As anticipated, the SEC this morning voted 4-1 to mandate central clearing for Treasury securities used in many repo and reverse-repo transactions, modifying the proposal in key respects still unsatisfactory to Commissioner Peirce.  The rule addresses continuing concerns about Treasury-market fragility, in part by reducing the number of highly-leveraged hedge-fund transactions.

GAO Reaches Equivocal Verdict on Digital-Asset Crypto Evasion Risk

Addressing Congressional concerns such as those in the Warren-Marshall crypto-compliance bill, the GAO today issued a report finding that digital assets pose risk to U.S. sanction implementation and enforcement despite mitigating factors that may reduce certain risks.

Brown Presses Bank CEOs on Servicemember Rights

A week after the GSIB CEOs came before the Senate Banking Committee (see Client Report GSIB23), Banking Committee Chair Brown (D-OH) today sent a letter to the CEOs of the four largest consumer banks encouraging them to ensure that active-duty servicemembers obtain all the financial benefits to which they are entitled.

Daily121323.pdf

8 12, 2023

Al121123

2023-12-08T16:55:05-05:00December 8th, 2023|3- This Week|

Another Book Report?

At a recent hearing (see Client Report CONSUMER54), CFPB Director Chopra wasn’t shy in his critique of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.  He called it a “book report club,” a moniker Karen Petrou last week suggested was not wholly untrue when it comes to emerging risks such as private credit.  FSOC’s meeting this Thursday is likely to show the Council at its bookwormy best given that the agenda consists largely of ritual release of yet another FSOC report.  We’ve dutifully catalogued these year-in, year-out as hundreds of FSOC blessed pages spew forth about what the Council did, how many facts its staff gathered about whom in the past year, and what it thinks might go wrong where in concert with little indication of what the Council might then do to prevent the worst from happening.

Al121123.pdf

30 11, 2023

CONSUMER54

2023-11-30T14:26:00-05:00November 30th, 2023|5- Client Report|

Chopra Breezes Through Senate Banking as Senators Revisit Concerns Over AI, FRC Bidding Process

Today’s Senate Banking hearing with Director Chopra was even more cordial than yesterday’s HFSC session (see Client Report CONSUMER53) even though Republicans continued to criticize the Bureau’s recent rulemakings.  Today’s hearing also showcased renewed focus on JPM’s controversial acquisition of FRC, with Sen. Vance (R-OH) grilling Mr. Chopra about the bidding process.  Director Chopra emphasized that the least-cost test was adhered to and insisted that JPM’s bid was found to be higher than PNC’s, although he promised to provide the senator with more information.  Chairman Brown (D-OH) raised serious concerns over AI lending decisions and explainability, while Sen. Warner (D-VA) called it an issue “tailor-made” for FSOC.

CONSUMER54.pdf

28 11, 2023

DAILY112823

2023-11-28T16:35:09-05:00November 28th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

FRB-Dallas: Reciprocal Deposits Require Policy Attention

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas today released a staff study revaluating reciprocal deposits in the wake of SVB’s failure, concluding that policy-makers should reconsider concentration limits imposed in 2018 in conjunction with brokered-deposit constraints (see FSM Report DEPOSITINSURANCE108).

FRB-NY: OEFs Create Run-Run Risk

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York today released a staff study concluding that open-end funds (OEFs) experienced acute outflows after SVB failed, bank deposits received de facto unlimited insurance, and the FRB established the TBFP.

Chopra Testimony Ducks Tough Questions Ahead of Hearings

CFPB Director Chopra’s testimony for forthcoming hearings with HFSC and Senate Banking this week largely recaps Bureau action since his last appearance before Congress in June, with Mr. Chopra focusing on consumer debt issues highlighted in the CFPB’s recent consumer credit card market report.

FSB Wants Action on Crypto Vertical Integration

The FSB today released a report concluding that, while multifunction crypto-asset intermediaries (MCIs) currently pose limited financial-stability threat, cryptoasset stress events such as those that occurred over the past year present spillover risks to banks with concentrated deposit exposures to firms reliant on cryptoassets.

Basel Presses Supervisors to Enforce GSIB Data-Aggregation Standards

The Basel Committee today released a report finding that only two of the 31 GSIBs are fully compliant with its Principles for effective risk data aggregation and risk reporting (see FSM Report RISKMANAGEMENT7).

Daily112823.pdf

17 11, 2023

DAILY111723

2023-11-17T16:32:11-05:00November 17th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

FDIC Special Assessment to Cost Still More

After abruptly cancelling its open meeting, the FDIC late yesterday released its final special-assessment rule.

GOP Tries to Force Gruenberg Out

Following HFSC Chairman McHenry’s (R-NC) decision yesterday to begin a formal investigation of FDIC Chair Gruenberg are not only a raft of Senate Republicans putting pressure on the increasingly-beleaguered long-time FDIC official, but also top Democrats.

Senate Dems, HFSC Intensify FDIC Scrutiny

Building on earlier comments, bipartisan scrutiny of the FDIC and Chairman Gruenberg grew this afternoon with two new letters from Democratic and Republican leaders in both chambers of Congress.

Chopra Wants DIF Redesign

Although the most contentious issue on the agenda for yesterday’s cancelled FDIC meeting was the special assessment, the board was also to consider the Deposit Insurance Fund’s status and progress on its designated reserve ratio (DRR).

Daily111723.pdf

7 11, 2023

DAILY110723

2023-11-07T17:01:20-05:00November 7th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

Treasury Advances Financial-Inclusion Agenda

In conjunction with its read-out of yesterday’s meeting of its most recent financial-inclusion discussion group, Treasury announced that it will shortly release a request for information about how best to accomplish the national financial-inclusion strategy demanded in the Department’s FY23 appropriations.

HFSC GOP Challenges Motives, Process of Basel, NGFS Standard-Setting

As anticipated, today’s Financial Institutions Subcommittee hearing on global banking accords was acrimonious, with Republicans strongly attacking what they characterized as Democratic agency head’s participation in a range of global banking accords as well as the Network for Greening the Financial System.

CFPB Proposes to Extend its Supervisory Reach to Tech-Payment Providers

The CFPB today proposed a sweeping rule bringing tech-platform or fintech companies offering general-use digital-payment services under bank-like consumer-protection standards via more direct CFPB supervision.

Bowman Stands by Basel

Perhaps due to today’s HFSC hearing on global accords, FRB Gov. Bowman today went beyond her ongoing critiques of pending rules to defend participation in the Basel Committee and other forums.

FHFA Starts FHLB Redesign

FHFA today released its long-awaited assessment of the Federal Home Loan Banks, laying out an ambitious program of supervisory, regulatory, and statutory issues.

McHenry Slams CFPB Digital-Payment Proposal

HFSC Chairman McHenry (R-NC) today slammed the CFPB not for usual causes, but because he believes the agency’s proposed supervisory standards for nonbank general-use digital-payment providers will “entrench the status quo” – i.e., the role of banks – by eliminating consumer choice and impeding innovation.

Daily110723.pdf

3 11, 2023

DAILY110323

2023-11-03T17:39:35-04:00November 3rd, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

FSOC Advances Designation Framework, Ready to Deploy

The FSOC today voted unanimously to finalize the Council’s analytic framework for financial stability risk identification (see FSM Report SYSTEMIC95) and guidance on nonbank financial company systemic designations (see FSM Report SIFI35).  FedFin will soon provide clients with in-depth reports on each item.  In addition to minor clarifications to the analytic framework, the Council importantly decided not to add cost-benefit analysis.  Further, the final nonbank designation guidance is unchanged from the proposal, meaning that designation standards will not require a determination of imminent threat to financial stability.

Daily110323.pdf

2 11, 2023

DAILY110223

2023-11-02T17:00:12-04:00November 2nd, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

CFPB Presses Case for Nonbank CRA Regs

Following Director Chopra’s call for more state CRA rules covering nonbanks when he voted in favor of the new federal CRA regulation, the CFPB today issued a report echoing the need for greater nonbank oversight in state CRA rules due to increasing nonbank market influence.  The analysis highlights that nonbanks originated 64 percent of conventional home mortgage loans compared to the banks’ 25 percent as of 2021.  The report also notes that state regulations and enforcement mechanisms lack authority to issue civil monetary penalties or impose “structural” remedies for failing to meet state reinvestment requirements.

Daily110223.pdf

Go to Top