PH FedACTion: Financial Regulatory Updates
Daily Financial Regulation Update -- Tuesday, May 18, 2021
May 18, 2021
FedACTion Task Force
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MAJOR DEVELOPMENT
FDIC Issues Request for Information on Banks’ Activities Involving Digital Assets
May 17, 2021The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued a request for information gathering information and soliciting comments from interested parties about insured depository institutions’ current and potential digital asset activities.
PH Client Alerts
Click here to read more from our Coronavirus series.
Administration Changes
Appointments/Confirmation Hearings
Department of the Treasury – Janet Yellen (effective January 26, 2021)
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – Rohit Chopra (Nominee)
- Acting Director: Dave Uejio (January 20, 2020)
- Confirmation hearing held on March 2, 2021
- Committee approval March 10, 2021
- Toomey Opening Statement During Chopra, Gensler Nomination Hearing (March 2, 2021)
Securities and Exchange Commission – Gary Gensler (effective April 17, 2021)
- Alex Oh Resigns from SEC; Melissa Hodgman Named Acting Director of Enforcement (April 28, 2021)
- Jessica Wachter Named SEC Chief Economist and Director of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (May 3, 2021)
Small Business Administration – Isabel Guzman (effective March 16, 2021)
Commodity Futures Trade Commission
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
- FinCEN Announces Acting Director and New Deputy Director (April 2, 2021)
- Statement from Treasury Deputy Secretary Adeyemo on Leadership Announcement (April 2, 2021)
National Credit Union Administration – Todd M. Harper
Department of Housing and Urban Development – Marcia Fudge (effective March 10, 2021)
- Statement by Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Chair Sherrod Brown at Nomination Hearing for Adrianne Todman to be Deputy Secretary (May 11, 2021)
- Statement by Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Ranking Member Pat Toomey at Nomination Hearing for Adrianne Todman to be Deputy Secretary (May 11, 2021)
Department of Education – Dr. Miguel Cardona (effective March 2, 2011)
- U.S. Department of Education Announces Richard Cordray as Chief Operating Officer of Federal Student Aid (May 3, 2021)
- Statement from Secretary Miguel Cardona on the Confirmation of Cindy Marten as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education (May 11, 2021)
- Statement by Secretary Cardona on President Biden's Nomination of Catherine Lhamon (May 13, 2021)
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 the full text of the American Rescue Plan of 2021, Enacted March 11, 2021.
Click here to view the full text of the PPP Extension Act of 2021, Enacted March 30, 2021.
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 Statement on Senate’s Passage of Congressional Review Act Overturning OCC’s True Lender Rule
May 14, 2021
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, released a statement on the U.S. Senate’s passage of S.J. Res 15, sponsored by U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), seeking to overturn the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) so-called “true lender” rule.
Federal Agencies
Department of the Treasury
Deputy Secretary Adeyemo Meets with House Ways and Means Committee’s Racial Equity Initiative
May 17, 2021
Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury (Treasury), met with the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means’ Racial Equity Initiative, led by Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-AL), Congressman Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), and Congressman Steven Horsford (D-NV), to discuss Treasury’s role in closing the racial wealth gap and ensuring that underserved communities have equitable access to Treasury’s programs.
Treasury and IRS Announce Families of 88% of U.S. Children to Automatically Receive Monthly Payment of Refundable Child Tax Credit
May 17, 2021
The United States Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service announced that the first monthly payment of the expanded and newly-advanceable Child Tax Credit from the American Rescue Plan will be made on July 15, 2021. Roughly 39 million households — covering 88% of children in the United States — are slated to begin receiving monthly payments without any further action required.
Federal Reserve Board
Agencies Extend Comment Period on Request for Information on Artificial Intelligence
May 17, 2021
The United States Department of the Treasury, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, and National Credit Union Administration announced they will extend the comment period on the request for information on financial institutions’ use of artificial intelligence until July 1, 2021.
Federal Reserve Board Issues Report on Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households
May 17, 2021
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System released its report (Report) entitled, “Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2020.” According to the Report, in the fourth quarter of 2020, nearly one-fourth of adults said that they were worse off financially compared to a year earlier, reflecting the economic fallout and distress resulting from the global COVID-19 pandemic. The Report found a larger share of adults were worse off in 2020 than in previous years of the survey. This change occurred broadly across the population, but not all groups fared similarly.
Governor Clarida Speech: Sovereign Markets, Global Factors
May 17, 2021
Richard H. Clarida, Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, delivered via webcast a speech entitled, “Sovereign Markets, Global Factors,” at the 25th Annual Financial Markets Conference, sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Center for Financial Innovation and Stability.
The Emergence of Forward Guidance as a Monetary Policy Tool
May 17, 2021
The Divisions of Research & Statistics and Monetary Affairs of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System released a paper titled “The Emergence of Forward Guidance as a Monetary Policy Tool,” as part of its Finance and Economics Discussion Series.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
FRBNY Releases Staff Report on U.S. Market Concentration and Import Competition
May 17, 2021
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a Staff Report (Report) entitled, “U.S. Market Concentration and Import Competition.” Using confidential census data for the manufacturing sector, the Report’s authors show that typical measures of market concentration, once adjusted for sales by foreign exporters, actually stayed constant between 1992 and 2012. The authors reconcile these findings by linking part of the increase in domestic concentration to import competition. According to the Report, although concentration among U.S.-based firms rose, the growth of foreign firms, mostly at the bottom of the sales distribution, counteracted this increase. The authors find that higher import competition caused a decline in the market shares of the top twenty U.S. firms.
FRBNY Updates Home Price Change Maps
May 17, 2021
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York updated its maps tracking home price changes across the region and the United States, to include data through March 2021.
FRBNY Releases April 2021 Household Spending Survey Findings
May 17, 2021
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data released findings from the April 2021 Survey of Consumer Expectations Household Spending Survey, which provides information on individuals’ experiences and expectations regarding household spending.
FRBNY Releases Monthly Empire State Manufacturing Survey Results
May 17, 2021
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released results of the May 2021 Empire State Manufacturing Survey.
FRBNY Blog Explores U.S. Monetary Policy’s Effect on Emerging Market Economies
May 17, 2021
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York published a Liberty Street Economics blog post entitled, “How Does U.S. Monetary Policy Affect Emerging Market Economies?” The post’s authors developed a model that they use to illustrate the spillovers from a tightening of U.S. monetary policy on credit spreads and on the uncovered interest rate parity premium in emerging market economies with dollar-denominated debt.
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
FRBBOS Examines Resiliency of Mortgage Credit Supply
May 17, 2021
The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston released a Working Paper entitled, “How Resilient Is Mortgage Credit Supply? Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
Conference of State Bank Supervisors
Montana’s Melanie Hall Elected CSBS Chair
May 17, 2021
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) announced the election of Montana Commissioner of Banking and Financial Institutions Melanie Hall as the new chair of the CSBS Board of Directors.
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Agencies Publish Proposed Rule on Tax Allocation Agreements
May 17, 2021
On May 10, 2021, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation published a proposed rule to establish enforceable guidelines implementing requirements for tax allocation agreements and principles for the relationship between national banks, state banks, savings associations and their holding companies in a consolidated tax filing group.
Benjamin W. McDonough Named OCC Chief Counsel
May 17, 2021
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency named Benjamin W. McDonough its Senior Deputy Comptroller and Chief Counsel. Mr. McDonough previously was an Associate General Counsel at the Federal Reserve Board.
U.S. Small Business Administration
Administrator Guzman Meets with Board of National Association of Hispanic Publications
May 17, 2021
On May 13, 2021, Isabella Casillas Guzman, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, met at a virtual roundtable with the executive board of the National Association of Hispanic Publications, to discuss the priorities of the Biden – Harris Administration and the equity focus on economic aid made possible by the American Rescue Plan Act.
Department of Housing and Urban Development/Federal Housing Administration
HUD Announces $5 Billion Allocation to House People Experiencing Homelessness
May 17, 2021
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge announced the allocation of $5 billion in American Rescue Plan funds for emergency housing vouchers for individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness.
State Agencies
California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation
California DFPI Hires ‘Fintech’ Legal Expert to Head Financial Technology and Innovation Office
May 17, 2021
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation announced it has hired Christina Tetreault to lead the new Office of Financial Technology and Innovation, which will regulate fintechs and foster responsible innovation by offering early guidance to entrepreneurs developing financial products and services in California. Ms. Tetreault previously was a manager of financial policy at Consumer Reports.
International
European Banking Authority
ESAs Report on Implementation, Functioning of Securitization Regulation
May 17, 2021
The Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (the European Banking Authority, European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, and European Securities and Markets Authority) published its analysis of the implementation and functioning of the EU Securitization Regulation, including recommendations on how to address initial inconsistencies and challenges.
EBA Publishes Report on Member States’ Reliance on External Credit Ratings
May 17, 2021
The European Banking Authority (EBA) published a report analyzing the extent to which Member States’ national law relies on external credit ratings.