#Huizenga – Federal Financial Analytics

16 04, 2024

DAILY041624

Eliza Allen2024-04-16T17:10:39-04:00April 16th, 2024|2- Daily Briefing|

House GOP Takes on New Merger Guidelines

The House Small Business Committee today sent a GOP letter to the FTC and Justice Department strongly protesting new merger guidelines (see FSM Report MERGER13) on grounds that they sharply curtail needed small-business capital.

House Hikes Iran Sanctions

Working through a series of sanctions bills in the wake of recent geopolitical developments, the House yesterday voted 294-105 to advance H.R. 5921, a bill introduced by Rep. Huizenga (R-MI) that prohibits Treasury from authorizing transactions by U.S. financial institutions in connection with Iranian imports or exports other than food, medicine, and other humanitarian assistance.

House Passes Bill Targeting China-Iran Petroleum Trade

Continuing its response to recent geopolitical events, the House yesterday voted by a 383-11 margin to pass H.R. 5923, a bill from Reps. Lawler (R-NY) and Gottheimer (D-NJ) that would require the President to periodically determine if any Chinese financial institutions have purchased petroleum or petroleum products from Iran, stating that U.S. financial institutions also may not open or maintain certain accounts with Chinese institutions that have done so.

Warren Again Targets OCC Merger Decisions

Continuing recent attacks on the OCC’s approach to mergers, Sens. Warren (D-MA) and Blumenthal (D-CT) yesterday sent a letter to Acting Comptroller Hsu sharply criticizing the agency’s decision first to allow NYCB to acquire Flagstar bank and then do the same shortly thereafter for Signature.

OCC Toughens LCR, NSFR via New Reporting Requirements

The OCC today sought public comment as required by law for …

10 01, 2024

DAILY011024

Eliza Allen2024-01-10T17:00:41-05:00January 10th, 2024|2- Daily Briefing|

HFSC’s HUD Hearing to Trod Partisan Ground

HFSC’s majority staff memo on Thursday’s hearing with HUD Secretary Fudge makes it still clearer that the session will focus on affordable housing, homelessness, and public-housing agencies in cities such as New York and Washington, D.C.

HFSC GOP Slams DOL Fiduciary Rule

At today’s HFSC Capital Markets Subcommittee hearing on the DOL’s Fiduciary Rule, Subcommittee Chairwoman Wagner (R-MO) argued that the proposal should be withdrawn, calling it a partisan effort to eliminate “junk fees.”

HFSC Takes Partisan Approach to FSOC

At today’s HFSC Digital Assets Subcommittee hearing on FSOC’s systemic-designation framework (see FSM Report SYSTEMIC98), Subcommittee Chairman Hill (R-AR) questioned FSOC’s approach to addressing systemic risk, claiming that the Council’s revised guidance is vulnerable to abuse and unintended consequences.

CFPB Small-Business Reg Survives

Senate Republicans tried today to override the President’s veto of the Congressional Review Act resolution approved by both Houses of Congress to repeal the CFPB’s small-business reporting rule.

Daily011024.pdf…

13 12, 2023

DAILY121323

Eliza Allen2023-12-13T16:50:12-05:00December 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 14^th renewal of a waiver that allows Iraq to pay Iran for electricity, calling for increased pressure on Iran following Hamas’s October 7^th 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

DAILY120823

Eliza Allen2023-12-08T16:54:36-05:00December 8th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

Basel Study Concludes Banks at Climate Risk Despite Lit-Survey Conclusions

A new Basel Committee working paper provides a literature review of recent analyses of climate risk’s impact on financial institutions to assess the drivers key to establishing the scenario analyses recently outlined in the Committee’s final climate-risk principles (see FSM Report CLIMATE14) and those recently finalized by U.S. banking agencies (see FSM Report CLIMATE17).

EU Regulators Seek AT1 Certainty

Treasury and the EU today issued a joint statement summarizing topics discussed at this week’s U.S.-EU financial regulatory forum. These included financial stability, bank-regulatory developments, AML, sustainable finance, supervisory coordination, and digital-finance operational resilience.

Senate GOP Tackles U.S. Participation in FSB Entities

Sens. Braun (R-IN), Hagerty (R-TN), and Marshall (R-KS) have introduced S. 3446, a bill to require the banking agencies to report on their interactions with nongovernmental international organizations. This is part of the broader campaign to block U.S. agencies from adhering to edicts such as the end-game capital rules, reaching also insurance and securities standards.

HFSC Leadership Blast Hsu’s Competence, Agency Operations

HFSC Subcommittee Chairs Barr (R-KY), Huizenga (R-MI) and Hill (R-AR) sent a letter today to Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu continuing their attacks (see Client Report FINTECH33) against the OCC for its recently reported hiring of an individual with falsified credentials to oversee the OCC’s Office of Financial Technology.

Daily120823.pdf…

22 11, 2023

DAILY112223

Eliza Allen2023-11-22T12:23:22-05:00November 22nd, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

Fed Study: CBDC Analysis Needs Work, but Public-Welfare Benefits are Likely

A new FRB staff literature survey of CBDC analyses points to the wide variety of often-opposing findings relating to critical matters such as bank disintermediation and financial stability, attributing this in part to the different CBDC models under consideration in various nations.

Agencies Extend LTD Comment Period

As implied at a recent hearing (see Client Report REFORM229), the agencies have now delayed the comment deadline on long-term debt (see FSM Report TLAC9) until January 16 from November 30.

HFSC GOP Plans Immediate FDIC-Workplace Hearings

Clearly dissatisfied even though the FDIC’s new investigation will proceed without Chair Gruenberg’s involvement, HFSC Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chair Barr (R-KY) and Oversight Subcommittee Chair Huizenga (R-MI) wrote to Mr. Gruenberg demanding that he recuse himself from overseeing any independent investigation.

Daily112223.pdf…

17 11, 2023

DAILY111723

Eliza Allen2023-11-17T16:32:11-05:00November 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…

24 10, 2023

DAILY102423

Eliza Allen2023-10-24T17:18:54-04:00October 24th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

McHenry, Barr Blast Basel Adherence in End-Game Regs

Although today’s hearing challenging regulatory actions aligned with global regulators was postponed, HFSC Chairman McHenry (R-NC) and Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chairman Barr (R-KY) today kept up the pressure, releasing a letter to the GAO commissioning a study of the end-game rules.

New CRA Reg Sets Controversial, Complex Standards

Leading the way to certain inter-agency approval, the Federal Reserve today voted 6-1 to approve a final version of their 2022 controversial proposal (see FSM Report CRA32).

FDIC OIG: Supervisors Missed So Much, Acted So Slowly re SBNY

The FDIC’s OIG report today on SBNY’s failure follows much of the line the Fed’s OIG took when it came on the material-loss review of SVB’s collapse.

House Republicans Pressure Biden on $6 Billion Iran Ransom

Although HFSC continues to cancel all its hearings as the speakership battle continues, its Oversight Subcommittee today optimistically released a memo outlining goals for Thursday’s Iran-sanctions hearing.

Treasury Presses CSPs to Negotiate With Banks

Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Graham Steele today highlighted Treasury’s work with cloud service providers (CSPs) to improve transparency and security.

Divided FDIC Advances CRA Rewrite, Climate-Risk Principles

As anticipated, the FDIC on a 3-2 vote joined the Fed in approving a 1400+ page final CRA rule.

Daily102423.pdf…

12 10, 2023

DAILY101223

Eliza Allen2023-10-12T17:09:17-04:00October 12th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

FSB Calls for More Private Climate Disclosures

Expressing considerable satisfaction with climate-risk disclosure progress, the FSB today released a report finding that all member jurisdictions either have or plan climate disclosure regimes, but there still needs to be greater private-sector self-reporting.

Pressure Builds for Heightened Iran, China Sanctions

Ahead of the hearing we anticipated earlier this week, HFSC Republicans have introduced several bills designed to increase financial pressures on Iran to punish it for the Hamas attack.

EU Regulators Add ESG Considerations to Regulatory, Supervisory Standards

In a bit of gold plating for what it believes to be the public good, the European Banking Authority today issued a report pressing for Pillar 1 capital charges for activities posing ESG risks with particular attention to climate.

OMB Redesigns Federal Rulemaking to Consider, Increase Competition

Acting under the President’s competition executive order (see Client Report MERGER6), OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs yesterday issued new guidance governing federal rulemaking stipulating express assessment of the impact of new or prospective rules to enhance market competition.

CFPB, DoJ Issue Immigration Discrimination Warning

Taking action that may in some cases put lenders in conflict with state law, the CFPB and DoJ stated today that “unnecessary or overbroad reliance” on immigration status in a credit decision may violate the ECOA.

Daily101223.pdf…

27 06, 2023

ESG4

Arezou Rafikian2023-06-27T09:24:21-04:00June 27th, 2023|5- Client Report|

Passive Asset Managers Top ESG Financial Hit List

Late Friday, GOP HFSC Members issued a withering report criticizing the Biden Administration for using financial regulators to do its political bidding on ESG objectives that it believes “contort” financial regulators into political instrumentalities that put retail investors at risk. The group’s most immediate target is environmental policy, but it plans also to focus on corporate decision-making to ensure that it too does not put policy goals above pecuniary return. The SEC is unsurprisingly the GOP’s top target, with HFSC likely readying action on an array of proxy-voting changes and proposed bills to block the Commission’s proposed climate-risk disclosures.

ESG4.pdf…

17 05, 2023

REFORM225

Eliza Allen2023-05-17T16:03:47-04:00May 17th, 2023|5- Client Report|

HFSC Subcommittees Plow More Ground for Supervisory Accountability, Capital Reform, Clawbacks

A joint hearing today of HFSC’s Financial Institutions and Oversight Subcommittees expanded on themes at yesterday’s full Committee session with bank regulators (see Client Report REFORM224) and Senate Banking’s session with SVB’s and SBNY’s CEOs, with First Republic’s CEO now added to the Congressional firing line. Much in this session repeated prior themes, with Rep. Dave Scott (D-GA) going beyond prior, sharp criticism to accuse SVB’s CEO of being the worst CEO in U.S. financial history. Democrats demanded that he give up the bonus he received the day SVB failed and he went to Hawaii, receiving little satisfaction on this score and continuing demands for clawback legislation. Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) continued to argue that contingent-capital instruments would ensure smooth resolutions, a position he said is shared by Chairman McHenry (R-NC) even though it supports a controversial Fed/FDIC proposal for regional-bank TLAC (see FSM Report RESOLVE48).

REFORM225.pdf…