#Van Hollen – Federal Financial Analytics

31 03, 2023

DAILY033123

Eliza Allen2023-03-31T16:49:24-04:00March 31st, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

Senate Presses Fed Transparency, Accountability

Responding in part to testimony earlier this week (see Client Report REFORM217), Sens. Tillis (R-NC), Warren (D-MA), and seven colleagues have introduced legislation (S. 1160) to bring Federal Reserve Banks under the FOIA and force greater responsiveness to Congress – a response also to last year’s battle over master-account data and continuing crypto controversies. The measure would also mandate an independent IG, force the Fed to respond to Congressional ethics inquiries, and allow Senate Banking and HFSC bipartisan leadership to review confidential supervisory data. Sen. Tillis and three other Republicans also introduced S. 1155 to redesign the Fed.

Senate Dems Implicitly Chide Administration Reg-Reform Agenda, Demand Holistic Assessment

Following one of the somewhat surprising lines of inquiry at Senate Banking’s SVB hearing, Senate Banking Chairman Brown (D-OH) and all the Committee Democrats today pressed back against the list of rules the White House yesterday prioritized for rewrites. While they did not take issue with that list, they also want FSOC to undertake a holistic review of banking, consumer, and systemic rules, noting the importance in this effort of also protecting small banks from undue harm. The senators expressly want FSOC to go beyond the President’s focus on what they call “traditional” prudential standards also to examine non-quantifiable risks such as social media and AI.

Daily033123.pdf…

2 03, 2023

DAILY030223

Eliza Allen2023-03-03T17:11:19-05:00March 2nd, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

Senate GOP Reiterates Anti-Woke Demands

At the same time as the Senate passed a resolution overturning the Labor Department’s rule authorizing pension ESG investments, Sens. Rubio (R-FL), Cruz (R-TX), Cramer (R-ND), Cotton (R-AR), Blackburn (TN), and Scott (R-FL) reintroduced legislation (S. 583) to permit the FDIC to terminate the insured status of depository institutions refusing to provide services to Federal contractors.

HFSC GOP Reams CFPB Late-Fee Proposal

Seventeen HFSC Republicans sent a letter late yesterday to CFPB Director Chopra strongly protesting the Bureau’s recent NPR targeting credit card late fees (see FSM Report CREDITCARD36).

Gensler Boosts SEC Custody Rewrite

SEC Chairman Gensler today reiterated and emphasized his strong support for the agency’s proposal to rewrite the rules governing custody services (see FSM Report CUSTODY5), arguing that they would strengthen safeguards and provide a much-needed expansion to the protections qualified custodians provide.

Bipartisan Senators Target Another Crypto Culprit

Following Sen. Warren’s (D-MA) pledge to introduce bipartisan legislation extending AML protections to crypto firms (see Client Report CRYPTO39), Sens. Warren, Van Hollen (D-MD), and Marshall (R-KS) sent letters yesterday to the leadership of the crypto platform Binance, alleging that the company built an intentionally opaque corporate structure to circumvent securities and AML laws and facilitate money laundering and sanctions evasion.

Brown Demands Branch-Closure Hearings, Merger Policy

In the midst of what may well be negotiations over the nomination of Michael Hsu as Comptroller and continuing controversies over big-bank mergers, Senate Banking Chairman Brown (D-OH) today wrote …

24 01, 2023

DAILY012423

Eliza Allen2023-01-24T16:47:35-05:00January 24th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

FSB Chair Presses Need to Finalize Global Crypto Standards

In remarks today, FSB Chair Klaas Knot reiterated FSB’s 2023 priorities regarding NBFI, crypto, and climate change risks, also emphasizing that the FSB seeks to improve financial resilience rather than predicting the cause of the next financial crisis.

McHenry, Hill Suggest Crypto Action Plan

In a new tweet, HFSC Chairman McHenry (R-NC) emphasized the crypto plan he discussed earlier in a media interview.

Brown, Van Hollen Press Tough TLAC, Regional-Bank Resolvability Rule

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Brown (D-OH) and Sen. Van Hollen (D-MD) sent a letter to FDIC Chairman Gruenberg and FRB Vice Chair Barr late yesterday praising the agencies’ recent ANPR on large bank resolution standards (see FSM Report RESOLVE48), calling for TLAC that prevents taxpayer bailouts in the event of failure.

CFPB Kicks Off Credit Card Regulatory Rewrite

Following its credit card late-fee notice of proposed rulemaking (see FSM Report CREDITCARD35), the CFPB today sought comment on the credit card sector as a whole for its biennial review of the industry.

Daily012423.pdf…

17 03, 2022

SANCTION17

Arezou Rafikian2023-04-03T14:38:13-04:00March 17th, 2022|5- Client Report|

Targeted Digital-Asset Standards Possible in Senate

The Senate Banking Committee’s hearing today on illicit finance focused as expected on cryptocurrency and suggests that targeted legislation addressing specific jurisdiction or compliance issues might advance on a bipartisan basis. Sen. Warren (D-MA) is, though, seeking a much broader bill. Joined by other panel Democrats but not Chairman Brown (D-OH), the bill would expand the reach of current sanctions to certain foreign firms, increase the President’s sanction power in this sector, and — most controversially — demand public reports on troublesome firms and individuals. Ranking Member Toomey (R-PA) made it clear that he is not prepared to go this far, reiterating longstanding views that digital assets enhance innovation and should be more widely used in the U.S. to ensure global leadership in a fast-growing sector.

SANCTION17.pdf…

15 02, 2022

FedFin: Stablecoin Legislative Consensus in Sight, But from a Distance

Arezou Rafikian2023-04-04T15:59:02-04:00February 15th, 2022|The Vault|

Despite fierce partisan fighting over pending Fed nominations, today’s Senate Banking hearing on stablecoin regulation was considerably more bipartisan that last week’s HFSC session (see Client Report CRYPTO24). Both Chairman Brown (D-OH) and Ranking Member Toomey (R-PA) are in broad agreement on a two-tier structure in which stablecoins are issued either by banks or by nonbanks subject to strict reserve-asset, AML, and related regulation.

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

15 02, 2022

CRYPTO25

Arezou Rafikian2023-04-04T15:58:50-04:00February 15th, 2022|5- Client Report|

Stablecoin Legislative Consensus in Sight, But from a Distance

Despite fierce partisan fighting over pending Fed nominations, today’s Senate Banking hearing on stablecoin regulation was considerably more bipartisan that last week’s HFSC session (see Client Report CRYPTO24). Both Chairman Brown (D-OH) and Ranking Member Toomey (R-PA) are in broad agreement on a two-tier structure in which stablecoins are issued either by banks or by nonbanks subject to strict reserve-asset, AML, and related regulation. That said, we think it may prove difficult for Democrats and Republicans to agree on key details in the construct of a U.S. private stablecoin regime, with the thorniest issue likely to prove the extent to which the federal construct preempts state regulation. Further, Sen. Brown signaled that there will be more stablecoin hearings before any action occurs, making it unlikely that time will permit resolution of outstanding differences of opinion within the Senate and then with the House before the end of this session.

CRYPTO25.pdf…