PH FedACTion: Financial Regulatory Updates
Daily Financial Regulation Update -- Friday, January 29, 2020
January 29, 2021
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Administration Changes
Appointments/Confirmation Hearings
Department of the Treasury – Janet Yellen (effective January 26, 2021)
- Treasury Announces Confirmation of Secretary Janet Yellen (January 26, 2021)
- Statement of House Committee on Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters on Confirmation of Janet Yellen (January 26, 2021)
- Treasury Announces the Appointment of Members of Senior Staff (January 20, 2021)
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – Rohit Chopra (Nominee)
- Acting Director: Dave Uejio (January 20, 2020)
- Confirmation hearing to be scheduled (additional details to follow)
- Director Kathleen L. Kraninger resigned effective January 20, 2020
Securities and Exchange Commission – Gary Gensler (Nominee)
- Acting Chair: Allison Herren Lee (January 21, 2021)
- Confirmation hearing to be scheduled (additional details to follow)
Small Business Administration – Isabel Guzman (Nominee)
- Acting Administrator: Tami Perriello (January 20, 2021)
- Confirmation hearing to be scheduled (additional details to follow)
Department of Education – Miguel Cardona (Nominee)
- Acting Secretary: Phil Rosenfelt (January 20, 2021)
- Education Announces Senior Appointees (January 21, 2021)
Commodity Futures Trade Commission
National Credit Union Administration – Todd M. Harper
Department of Housing and Urban Development – Marcia Fudge (Nominee)
- Acting Secretary: Matthew E. Ammon
- HUD Announces New Leadership Appointees (January 26, 2021)
- Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Nomination Hearing held January 28, 2021
- Statement by Ranking Member Sherrod Brown
- Nominee Testimony
Congress
Click here to view the full text of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), Enacted March 27, 2020.
Click here to view the full text of the Paycheck Protection Program Increase Act of 2020, Enacted April 24, 2020.
Click here to view the full text of the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020, Enacted June 5, 2020.
Click here to view the full text of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Enacted December 27, 2020.
Click here to view a running list of proposed legislation from the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, House Committee on Financial Services, and House Committee on Small Business.
U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Financial Services
Chairwoman Waters Announces Hearing on Short Selling, Online Trading Platforms
January 28, 2021
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, announced that she would convene a hearing to examine the recent activity around GameStop stock and other impacted stocks with a focus on short selling, online trading platforms, gamification and their systemic impact on capital markets and retail investors.
Federal Agencies
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
FRBNY Announces Blog Series on COVID-19’s Impact on Labor Market Across Income, Age and Race
January 28, 2021
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) announced that on February 9, the FRBNY’s Liberty Street Economics blog will release a three-part series exploring how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted labor market outcomes, including heterogeneity based on income, age and race.
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
OCC Imposes a Hold on its Own Fair Access Rule
January 28, 2021
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is pausing publication of its rule seeking to require that large banks provide all customers access to their services. The rule, initially proposed in November 2020 and finalized immediately before President Biden’s inauguration, codified agency guidance that banks should conduct risk assessments of individual customers, rather than make broad-based decisions affecting whole categories or classes of customers, when providing access to services, capital and credit. The effect of the fair access rule was to prevent large banks from refusing to lend to groups in politically-sensitive industries, such as guns and energy.
Pausing publication of the final rule in the Federal Register will allow President Biden’s yet to be-nominated and Senate-confirmed Comptroller of the Currency to review the final rule and the public comments the OCC received.
National Credit Union Association
NCUA to Host Webinar on Treasury’s Emergency Capital Investment Program
January 28, 2021
The National Credit Union Administration announced that on February 3 at 2 p.m. Eastern, it will host a webinar designed to provide eligible credit unions with information regarding the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Emergency Capital Investment Program.
Department of Housing and Urban Development/Federal Housing Administration
HUD Takes Actions Aimed at Supporting Homeowners, and Addressing Housing Crisis
January 28, 2021
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) took several actions designed to address immediate housing needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the extension of eviction and foreclosure moratoriums and extension of a mortgage payment forbearance request deadline for borrowers with FHA-insured mortgages.
Department of Labor
Labor Department Issues News Release on Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims
January 28, 2021
The U.S. Department of Labor issued a News Release regarding weekly unemployment insurance claims. The News Release states that, in the week ending January 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 847,000, a decrease of 67,000 from the previous week’s revised level; the previous week’s level was revised up by 14,000 from 900,000 to 914,000; the four-week moving average was 868,000, an increase of 16,250 from the previous week’s revised average; and, the previous week’s average was revised up by 3,750 from 848,000 to 851,750.
International
Bank of England
Bank Issues Market Notice Providing Update on Covid Corporate Financing Facility
January 28, 2021
This Bank of England released a Market Notice providing an update on how Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) issuers’ credit quality will be monitored and reviewed in advance of the closure of the CCFF.
UK Financial Conduct Authority
FCA Asks Banks to Reconsider Branch Closures during COVID-19 Lockdown
January 28, 2021
The UK Financial Conduct Authority, following the recent announcement by the UK government of new restrictions due to COVID-19, announced that firms should consider pausing or delaying new branch closures if possible, particularly where closures could have a significant impact on vulnerable customers.