#Wyden – Federal Financial Analytics

29 03, 2023

DAILY032923

Eliza Allen2023-03-29T17:30:21-04:00March 29th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

Barr Keeps CRA Hope Alive

Ahead of what is certainly going to be a trying HFSC hearing later today, FRB Vice Chairman Barr told an audience that pending CRA rules (see FSM Report CRA32) are still in the works, declining to provide any completion timeline.

Chopra Expands Post-SVB Policy Action Items

In remarks posted after a panel discussion yesterday, CFPB director and FDIC board member Rohit Chopra reaffirmed Chairman Gruenberg’s comments that changes are likely to capital and liquidity rules, but added action related to interest-rate risk management, resolution planning and stress-testing to the to-do list.

Senate Finance Dems Demand Tougher Penalties, Enforcement to Prevent Swiss Tax-Evasion Activities

Senate Finance Democrats today released a damning investigative report accusing Credit Suisse of persistently and often criminally enabling U.S. tax evasion despite a 2014 plea agreement with the U.S. Chairman Wyden (D-OR) presses for additional civil and criminal actions, noting that the UBS acquisition does not “wipe the slate clean.”

Bipartisan Senate Clawback Bill Reaches to BHC Investors, Creditors

Preempting Chairman Brown’s plans to introduce clawback legislation (see Client Report REFORM217), Sens. Warren (D-MA), Cortez Masto (D-NV), Hawley (R-MO), and Braun (R-IN) today introduced their own bill to do so.

CFPB Sets Comment Deadline For Controversial Credit Card Proposal

The Federal Register today includes the CFPB’s proposed rule on Credit Card Penalty Fees.

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16 03, 2023

DAILY031623

Eliza Allen2023-03-16T17:11:59-04:00March 16th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

FedFin Assessment: One CS Consequence – LISCC Reinstatement For All Large Foreign GSIBs

In the wake of CS’s distress, we draw client attention to a 2021 exchange sure to factor heavily in the political response.

Brown Presses For In-Depth SVB, Signature Review

As anticipated (see Client Report RESOLVE49), Senate Banking Chairman Brown (D-OH) today called on all the banking agencies and Treasury quickly to undertake a review of SVB and Signatures failures.

Warren Heaps Still More Blame On Powell

In another letter today, Sen. Warren (D-MA) once again lambasted Chair Powell for what she claimed was his direct contribution to the collapse of Signature Bank and SVB as well as a “a culture of corruption” at the Fed.

Senate GOP Blames Fed, California re SVB

Senate Banking Republicans today tweeted a series of comments citing articles going back to last year identifying SVB risk and suggesting strongly that the Fed and California state supervisors are at fault for missing clear warning signs.

Bipartisan Senators Push Better Beneficial-Ownership Data Access

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Whitehouse (D-RI) was joined by Sens. Wyden (D-OR), Warren (D-MA), Grassley (R-IA), and Rubio (R-FL) late yesterday in submitting a comment letter to FinCEN taking serious issue with its proposed implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) (see FSM Report AML135).

Senate Finance Hearing Deepens SVB Divide

At a heated Senate Finance hearing with Treasury Secretary Yellen, Members were quick to deviate from the hearing’s budget-focused agenda to address who should bear the …

29 11, 2022

DAILY112922

Eliza Allen2022-11-30T11:20:13-05:00November 29th, 2022|2- Daily Briefing|

Fed Finalizes Revisions to Interchange Survey

After finalizing a controversial proposal opening up debit-card routing (see FSM Report INTERCHANGE11), the FRB has also set changes to reporting on interchange-fees proposed in July. The final requirements track the proposal, gathering data now on reporting changes when multiple networks are involved in processing transactions as well as revising the survey to prevent overcounting certain transactions.

Senate Finance Chair Challenges Crypto-Exchange Conduct

Continuing Congressional pressure on crypto following FTX’s collapse, Senate Finance Chairman Wyden (D-OR) today sent six letters to some of the largest crypto exchanges to determine if the factors leading to FTX’s collapse are widespread. It is unclear what Sen. Wyden intends to do with the information he requests given that his panel does not have jurisdiction over the conflicts of interest and related concerns he cites, but it can surely call hearings and at the least build a record for the kind of legislation Mr. Wyden may support.

Daily112922.pdf…

17 03, 2022

DAILY031722

Eliza Allen2023-04-03T14:33:52-04:00March 17th, 2022|2- Daily Briefing|

Fed, FHFA Leadership Advance

As anticipated last night, the Senate Banking Committee yesterday advanced all the Fed nominations and that of Sandra Thompson as FHFA director. However, Lisa Cook’s nomination was tied on a strictly partisan basis, meaning that it was not approved by Senate Banking but is nonetheless discharged to Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY).

HFSC Hikes Array of Anti-Russia Sanctions

In the first of a series of markups, HFSC today approved 5 bills ramping up sanctions against Russia and Belarus. The most controversial of them, H.R. 7080 (Waters, D-CA), would broaden FinCEN’s ability to obtain information about the transactions of Russian oligarchs in the US.

Chopra Uses Rate Hike to Press Competition Inquiries

Describing the CFPB as “the arm of the Federal Reserve System that is fully focused on consumers,” Director Chopra today issued a statement following yesterday’s rate hike.

Senate Democrats Take Turns Whacking Wells Fargo

Senior Democrats today took sharp issue with Wells Fargo’s refi lending, asserting it was discriminatory and seeking an array of data from the bank and action by federal agencies. Senate Banking Chairman Brown (D-OH), Majority Whip Durbin (D-IL), and other senators called on HUD and the CFPB to investigate findings in a recent Bloomberg story, confining their comments to a general attack on discrimination without setting a date for a reply or any specific matters the agencies are to review.

Daily031722.pdf…

1 03, 2022

DAILY030122

Eliza Allen2023-04-04T13:02:03-04:00March 1st, 2022|2- Daily Briefing|

HFSC Readies for Powell Testimony

Apart from a macroeconomic overview, much of the HFSC staff memo ahead of Chairman Powell’s appearance tomorrow details recent Fed actions to enhance diversity, and Fed-official trading problems and resulting policies.

Gruenberg Worries re Risks to Come

The FDIC released its usual quarterly report on IDI conditions, showing considerable strength in the fourth quarter. Still, Acting Chairman Gruenberg’s remarks expressed considerable caution about industry resilience under growing macroeconomic and geopolitical stress.

Reach of U.S. Sanctions

Building on our report last week on new sanctions (see FSM Report SANCTION16) and Karen Petrou’s memo, we here address a frequently-asked questions as the Ukraine conflict rages and sanctions increase: the extent to which foreign banks without a U.S. presence must adhere to U.S. sanctions.

FRB Tries Anew re Payment-System Access

Responding indirectly but importantly to the controversies swirling around Sarah Bloom Raskin (see Client Report FEDERALRESERVE69), the FRB today released a supplement to its earlier proposal about the extent to which novel entities are granted Reserve Bank master accounts (see FSM Report PAYMENT17).

Congress Poised to Tighten Russia’s Financial Noose

Signaling that the U.S. Congress will add new sanctions to pending Ukraine relief, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) today called for an array of financial actions to circumvent Russian finance.

Daily030122.pdf…