AB – Policy & Regulation
- Banking
Democratic senators look to ‘LIFT’ first-generation homeownership
A proposed 20-year government-backed mortgage program could allow new homeowners to build wealth twice as fast as they would with…
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Boston and Dallas Fed chiefs at center of trading scandal to resign
WASHINGTON — Robert Kaplan, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, announced that he would step down next…
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Push to regulate crypto could test limits of CFPB’s power
Many in the regulatory community believe the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is gearing up to launch enforcement actions against cryptocurrency…
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Banks and credit unions unswayed after House softens IRS reporting plan
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are attempting to soften a plan to require bank and credit union reporting of account data to…
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Biden OCC pick cheered by progressives, jeered by industry
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has already picked financial regulatory nominees who are polar opposites from their Trump-appointed predecessors. But…
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House signs off on pot banking bill again, but will Senate follow?
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are once again trying to give the green light to cannabis banking legislation, but analysts say the…
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Biden to tap crypto, big-bank critic to run OCC
President Joe Biden plans to nominate a law professor who has criticized cryptocurrencies and advocated for the government to have…
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Furor over Fed officials’ trades shows need to fix ethics rules: Powell
WASHINGTON — The growing scrutiny of personal financial transactions by two Federal Reserve Bank presidents has demonstrated that the U.S.…
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Democrats, Republicans find common ground on data sharing
Several high-ranking lawmakers who rarely agree on anything found common ground at a hearing Tuesday in support of consumers’ right…
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Senate closes in on vote to confirm Chopra as CFPB director
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday he planned to bring Rohit Chopra’s nomination to serve as director…
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Support builds for acting FHFA head to get the job outright
WASHINGTON — Amid rumors that President Biden is considering Mike Calhoun of the Center for Responsible Lending to lead the…
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Banks call IRS reporting plan a compliance and privacy nightmare. Is it?
WASHINGTON — The scuffle over a Biden administration proposal to use bank account data to combat tax evasion is focused…
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Financial institutions should not be IRS agents
Few things are more private than your household finances. Under the guise of closing the “tax gap,” the Biden administration…
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Waters urges Biden to nominate FHFA’s Thompson as agency’s director
WASHINGTON — House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters is calling on President Biden to name acting Federal Housing Finance…
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Item No. 1 on CFPB’s packed agenda: Get a director
A packed regulatory agenda awaits Rohit Chopra — the Biden administration’s choice to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau —…
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FDIC creates investment fund to support minority banks, CDFIs
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is spearheading an effort to match private investors with minority-owned banks and community development financial…
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Proposed SBA expansion into direct lending irks banks, credit unions
Banks and credit unions oppose federal proposals to let the Small Business Administration make some 7(a) loans directly in addition…
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Yellen urges House to include IRS reporting provision in budget package
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee to include a provision…
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FHFA proposes modification of capital rules for Fannie and Freddie
WASHINGTON — The Federal Housing Finance Agency is proposing to revise the post-conservatorship capital framework for Fannie Mae and Freddie…
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Candidate to head FHFA favors turning Fannie, Freddie into utilities
WASHINGTON — Rumors circulating this week about a potential nominee to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency could offer key…
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What the $3.5 trillion budget package could mean for banks
WASHINGTON — As Congress tries to advance a massive $3.5 trillion spending plan, lawmakers and other stakeholders are pushing provisions…
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Treasury, FHFA suspend Trump-era restrictions on Fannie and Freddie
WASHINGTON— The Treasury Department and Federal Housing Finance Agency have agreed to suspend certain unpopular changes former Trump officials made…
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Why some backers of student lending product welcome CFPB crackdown
WASHINGTON — A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau order against a provider of income-share agreements signals regulatory tightening for all ISAs,…
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Biden nominates HUD official to be Ginnie Mae president
WASHINGTON — President Biden has nominated Alanna McCargo, a senior advisor at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to…
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CFPB small-business data plan scares banks. Activists say it should.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposal to collect data on small-business loans has been over a decade in the making,…
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Why OCC’s Hsu is cautious on crypto
WASHINGTON — Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu is developing a reputation as a skeptic when it comes to…
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Can cryptocurrency become mainstream?
Below is a lightly edited transcript of the podcast: SAM HELTMAN: Are we there? JOHN HELTMAN: Not yet. SAM: Are…
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Banks escalate fight over IRS reporting in Biden budget plan
WASHINGTON — The financial services sector is girding for an extended battle over a legislative proposal requiring banks and other…
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CFPB accuses LendUp of again deceiving borrowers
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is accusing the online lender LendUp of violating a five-year-old consent order and deceiving thousands…
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OCC announces formal plan to undo Trump-era CRA rule
WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency made good on a promise to rescind the agency’s unilateral…
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Bank profits were strong in 2Q, but margin pressure persists
WASHINGTON — U.S. banks reported strong profits for a second consecutive quarter, though the industry relied on a decline in…
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CFPB orders ISA provider to comply with consumer protection laws
WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has hit a provider of income-share agreements with a consent order, alleging that…
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Liberals are unhappy with Fed’s Powell, but that may not faze White House
WASHINGTON — Progressive lawmakers are ramping up opposition to a second term for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell because of…
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Scope of CFPB small-business loan data requirements worries banks
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau backtracked on a suggestion that the agency made during the Trump administration that it would…
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Biden administration sets goal of adding 100K affordable housing units
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Wednesday announced several efforts across the government aimed at increasing the affordable housing supply.…
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New York governor names ex-Obama advisor to lead financial regulator
WASHINGTON — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has nominated Adrienne Harris, a former economic advisor to President Barack Obama, to…
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FDIC review of virtual exams sparks debate on bank supervision’s future
WASHINGTON — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. may be laying the foundation for more bread-and-butter supervision to be conducted remotely…
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‘Night and day’: FHFA’s priorities rapidly changing under new leader
WASHINGTON — In her two months as acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Sandra Thompson has overseen a…
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It’s getting harder to keep the Fed out of politics
Every six weeks, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell steps to a podium and reads a statement from the Federal Open…
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Libor, pot top bankers’ fall wish list in Congress
With Congress largely focused on passing an infrastructure overhaul, banking policy is not high on lawmakers’ agenda. But the industry…
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Crypto watchers eager for signals on Fed’s digital dollar plans
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve has left the financial markets somewhat in suspense about whether the central bank is serious…
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Battle lines over cryptocurrencies being drawn in Congress
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are sharply divided over the government’s approach to the growing popularity of digital currencies. On one side…
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State regulator group issues standards for nonbank mortgage servicers
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors has unveiled bank-like prudential standards for overseeing nonbank mortgage servicers. The CSBS’ board of…
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Brown wants CFPB to investigate reports of Chime account closures
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to address the risks posed by Chime,…
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Regulators hit reset on CRA reform, commit to joint rulemaking
WASHINGTON — Federal bank regulators committed to rescinding the Trump-era reform of the Community Reinvestment Act, announcing a second attempt…
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Biden nominates progressive for Treasury financial policy job
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has nominated former Senate staffer Graham Steele to serve as assistant secretary for financial institutions…
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Treasury, regulators discuss path forward for stablecoins
WASHINGTON — Biden administration officials met with U.S. financial regulators Monday to discuss a path forward for regulating stablecoins in…
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Warren: CFPB should take a closer look at overdraft fees, crypto
WASHINGTON— Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is widely perceived as the architect of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and she used…
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With Fed picks, Biden will have to walk political tightrope
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will soon have a unique opportunity to leave a mark on the Federal Reserve when…
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7 candidates to lead Fannie and Freddie’s regulator
WASHINGTON— Following President Joe Biden’s June 23 ouster of Mark Calabria, speculation has intensified about the administration’s pick to run…
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