#mergers – Page 2 – Federal Financial Analytics

7 02, 2023

DAILY020723

Eliza Allen2023-02-07T16:53:41-05:00February 7th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

CFPB Extends Digital Marketing Reach To “Pay-To-Play” Platforms

Expanding its reach to other forms of digital marketing (see FSM Report FINTECH30), the CFPB today issued an advisory opinion stipulating that what it calls “pay-to-play” consumer platforms presenting mortgage and settlement options are likely to violate the law.

High-Impact Fed Charter Policy Takes Effect

The Federal Register today includes the FRB’s policy statement rejecting the “states as laboratories for change” construct by conforming state member bank powers largely only to those authorized for national banks. The statement is now effective.

GOP, Democrats Vie for Toughest Anti-China Stance

As we anticipated, at today’s full HFSC Committee hearing on China, Chairman McHenry (R-NC) made it clear that he intends action addressing emerging financial and economic risks, reiterating principles such as a commitment to free markets, opposing policies that stifle innovation, and preventing “malign” financial activities or interests.

Barr Backs Short-Term, Small Dollar Lending, Flexible Public-Welfare Option

In remarks today, Fed Vice Chair Barr stressed the need to eliminate discrimination in banking, noting the importance of the CRA rewrite (see FSM Report CRA32) to address redlining and community development. However, he was silent as to the date by which the agencies are likely to issue the long-awaited final rule.

Daily020723.pdf…

23 01, 2023

DAILY012323

Eliza Allen2023-01-23T16:47:01-05:00January 23rd, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

BIS: How Low Can Central-Bank Equity Go?

An historical examination of central-bank negative equity was published last week by the BIS. Doubtless undertaken as central banks such as the Fed record losses, the paper assesses how low central-bank equity can fall before it adversely affects confidence in fiat money. Noting as Karen Petrou’s book does that money is a “social convention,” the paper describes wide fiat-money acceptance depends in part on central-bank credibility based largely on the collapse of the Bank of Amsterdam in 1820. This has limited application to the Federal Reserve and other modern central banks in that the Bank of Amsterdam largely lacked fiscal backing and thus could not print money to rebuild equity.

Bank Big-Bank Merger Opponent Joins Justice Antitrust

With Jeremy Kress now in place as senior counsel to Jonathan Kanter in the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, it seems likely that pending big-bank mergers will get still more skeptical scrutiny. It is also possible that Mr. Kress was brought on to press Justice to finalize long-promised bank-merger guidelines that have been on hold since 2020 (see Client Report MERGER5). Mr. Kress is also a former colleague of Fed Vice Chairman Barr, who has indicated concern with larger-bank consolidation both directly and indirectly via the Fed/FDIC super-regional resolution proposal (see FSM Report RESOLVE48).

Daily012323.pdf…

22 12, 2022

DAILY122222

Eliza Allen2022-12-22T16:43:24-05:00December 22nd, 2022|2- Daily Briefing|

Waters Blasts ICE/BKI Merger

Although HFSC Chair Waters (D-CA) frequently opposes large-bank mergers, her stand today against the ICE/Black Knight deal is the first time we can recall her taking a public stand on a transaction before the Federal Trade Commission (outside HFSC’s jurisdiction).

Toomey Sets Agenda for GOP Fed Reform

Among his parting shots, Senate Banking Ranking Member Toomey (R-PA) yesterday introduced legislation to reform the Federal Reserve System.

Toomey Also Tries to Set Stablecoin Agenda

In another effort to set the terms of debate before he departs, Senate Banking Ranking Member Toomey (R-PA) also introduced a new version of his initial stablecoin legislation (see FSM Report CRYPTO27).

Warren Doubts Zelle’s Fraud Policy Changes

Continuing her campaign against Zelle fraud, Sen. Warren (D-MA) today sent a letter to the CEO of Zelle’s parent company demanding a briefing on pending efforts to compensate consumers for fraudulent transfers.

CFPB Cites ARM Risks, Rewards

The CFPB today issued a consumer alert describing the risks associated with various mortgage products during a period of rising interest rates.

Project Hamilton Ducks CBDC-Feasibility Decision

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston today announced the completion of its Project Hamilton work with MIT on a U.S. CBDC.

Fed to Reconsider Key Bank-Control Criteria

Although the banking agencies today reiterated that their policy is not generally to require reporting of loans to potentially controlling principal-fund complexes or banks that meet passivity requirements, the Fed will now reconsider relevant rules in this sector.

Daily122222.pdf…

21 12, 2022

FedFin on: Nonbank Enforcement-Order Registry

Arezou Rafikian2022-12-21T16:54:37-05:00December 21st, 2022|The Vault|

The CFPB is proposing to create a public registry of certain enforcement actions that would initially cover nonbanks (including BHCs) with a goal of drawing public and enforcement-agency attention to what the Bureau’s director calls “serial offenders.” …

The full report is available to retainer clients. To find out how you can sign up for the service, click here and here.…

21 12, 2022

CONSUMER47

Eliza Allen2022-12-21T15:27:45-05:00December 21st, 2022|1- Financial Services Management|

Nonbank Enforcement-Order Registry

The CFPB is proposing to create a public registry of certain enforcement actions that would initially cover nonbanks (including BHCs) with a goal of drawing public and enforcement-agency attention to what the Bureau’s director calls “serial offenders.” The new filings would be extensive and likely expensive in terms not just of the filings, but also of the analytical processes needed to ensure accuracy and the internal controls assuring officers making requisite attestations that their statements are complete and accurate. Public disclosure of much in the filings – including information that companies consider confidential – would make it easier for other enforcement agencies to identify institutions that may also have violated their own standards as well as alert state and federal banking agencies to entities under their supervision with potential compliance and risk-management shortcomings.

CONSUMER47.pdf…

21 11, 2022

FedFin on: Treasury Plumbs the Depth of Nonbank Finance, Seeks New Merger Policy, Rules

Arezou Rafikian2022-11-22T13:19:47-05:00November 21st, 2022|The Vault|

As promised, this report provides an in-depth analysis of Treasury’s report and resulting recommendations to the President’s Competition Council on the impact of new nonbank consumer-finance entrants from a competition, consumer-protection, and financial-stability perspective. Although the report calls for reconsideration of bank-merger policy with an eye to the growing role of fintechs and bigtechs, its overall view of market power fails in our view to capture the actual landscape in which…

The full report is available to retainer clients. To find out how you can sign up for the service, click here and here.…

21 11, 2022

FINTECH31

Eliza Allen2022-11-21T12:00:14-05:00November 21st, 2022|5- Client Report|

Treasury Plumbs the Depth of Nonbank Finance, Seeks New Merger Policy, Rules

As promised, this report provides an in-depth analysis of Treasury’s report and resulting recommendations to the President’s Competition Council on the impact of new nonbank consumer-finance entrants from a competition, consumer-protection, and financial-stability perspective. Although the report calls for reconsideration of bank-merger policy with an eye to the growing role of fintechs and bigtechs, its overall view of market power fails in our view to capture the actual landscape in which these important new entrants compete with banks. For example, its focus on deposit-market concentration compares banks principally to neobanks, failing to consider deposit-like products such as prime MMFs and in many cases also credit-union deposits. As a result, erroneous conclusions are drawn about market power that exists when all competitors – not just bigtechs or fintechs – are considered.

FINTECH31.pdf…

16 11, 2022

REFORM215

William Cross2022-11-22T15:02:46-05:00November 16th, 2022|5- Client Report|

HFSC Session Brings Crypto Action to Fore, “Holistic” Capital Under Scrutiny

HFSC today largely focused bank regulators on the same range of questions posed at yesterday’s Senate Banking session (see Client Report REFORM214). However, Chairwoman Waters (D-CA) emphasized the importance of federal legislation in sharp contrast to Chairman Brown (D-OH), also announcing a hearing in December on FTX. Ranking Member McHenry (R-NC), who will become HFSC chairman in the next Congress, concurred with the chairwoman’s views on the need for digital-finance statutory reform. However, he took strong issue with inter-agency policy with regard to new capital rules, merger restrictions, and third-party relationship constraints. Republican members also targeted Vice Chairman Barr’s holistic capital review, arguing that banks are currently well capitalized and that additional standards would hamper lending. Mr. Barr indicated that an SLR rewrite is part of the holistic review but not immediately necessary to quell Treasury-market volatility or illiquidity. As discussed in more detail below, regulators promised banking-sector crypto rules at least as stringent as Basel’s proposal.

REFORM215.pdf

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21 10, 2022

Al102422

William Cross2022-10-24T11:05:45-04:00October 21st, 2022|3- This Week|

Resolved…What Was That Again?

As evidenced again last week at the FDIC meeting (see Client Report DEPOSITINSURANCE115), structural change is under way in how larger regional banks are required to prepare for an orderly demise. This comes not just from the new FRB/FDIC request for views on what will clearly now be new resolution standards for these companies (see FSM Report RESOLVE48), but also how large M&A transactions are reviewed even while these standards undergo the lengthy comment-and-approval process kicked off by a release that hasn’t yet even hit the Federal Register. As we noted in our assessment of the approval of the USB/MUFG acquisition (see Client Report MERGER11), the FRB and OCC have altered the conditions they impose on super-regionals even if – as in this case – the Fed thinks the resulting company is already resolvable. Our analyses assess the strategic implications of what could be structural rewrites not only of how large regionals are resolved, but also even of how they operate while still in the pink.

Al102422.pdf…

21 10, 2022

FedFin on: DSIB-Resolution Requirements

Arezou Rafikian2022-10-21T15:51:53-04:00October 21st, 2022|The Vault|

The FRB and FDIC have moved beyond the resolution-planning requirements mandated in the Dodd-Frank Act then implemented over the years to what could be a new resolution regime for banking organizations considered category II or III companies under the inter-agency tailoring rules. Initially described as guidance when the agencies first announced this initiative, it appears likely that final standards will be more binding, which would almost certainly need to be the case under administrative procedures if the agencies decide not only to revise resolution planning on a sector or bank-by-bank case. This would be particularly likely if ….

The full report is available to retainer clients. To find out how you can sign up for the service, click here and here.…