PH FedACTion: Financial Regulatory Updates
Daily Financial Regulation Update -- Tuesday, March 30, 2021
March 30, 2021
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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 (Nominee)
- Acting Chair: Allison Herren Lee (January 21, 2021)
- Confirmation hearing held on March 2, 2021
- Committee approval March 10, 2021
Small Business Administration – Isabel Guzman (effective March 16, 2021)
Commodity Futures Trade Commission
National Credit Union Administration – Todd M. Harper
Department of Housing and Urban Development – Marcia Fudge (effective March 10, 2021)
Department of Education – Dr. Miguel Cardona (effective March 2, 2011)
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 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. Senate
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Chairman Brown: CDC Eviction Moratorium is “Essential”
March 29, 2021
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released a statement after Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Walensky announced an extension of the CDC eviction moratorium through June 30, 2021.
Federal Agencies
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Joint Statement on the U.S.-EU Joint Financial Regulatory Forum
March 29, 2021
The Department of the Treasury issued a release that notes that U.S. and European Union (EU) participants in the U.S.-EU Joint Financial Regulatory Forum met on March 24 and 25, 2021, to exchange views on topics of mutual interest as part of their ongoing financial regulatory dialogue. The meetings focused on six themes: (i) next steps in the COVID-19 recovery and mitigating financial stability risks, (ii) sustainable finance, (iii) multilateral and bilateral engagement in banking and insurance, (iv) regulatory and supervisory cooperation in capital markets, (v) regulatory and supervisory developments regarding financial innovation, and (vi) anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism issues.
Federal Reserve Board
Agencies Seek Wide Range of Views on Financial Institutions' use of Artificial Intelligence
March 29, 2021
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a joint release stating that they are gathering insight on financial institutions’ use of artificial intelligence (AI). The agencies seek information from the public on how financial institutions use AI in their activities, including fraud prevention, personalization of customer services, credit underwriting and other operations.
Speech: Treasury–Federal Reserve Cooperation and the Importance of Central Bank Independence
March 29, 2021
Christopher J. Waller, a newly-confirmed Governor at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, gave a speech at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C., titled “Treasury-Federal Reserve Cooperation and the Importance of Central Bank Independence.”
Suspension of Regulation D Examination Procedures
March 29, 2021
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System announced it is joining the other financial regulatory agencies in suspending its consumer compliance examiners’ use of the Regulation D Examination Procedures in light of last year’s interim final rule amending Regulation D to delete the six-per-month limit on convenient transfers from the “savings deposit” definition.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Who Pays What First? Debt Prioritization during the COVID Pandemic
March 29, 2021
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Liberty Street Economics blog released a post titled “Who Pays What First? Debt Prioritization during the COVID Pandemic.” The authors examine how consumers’ repayment priorities have evolved since the Great Recession.
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
New Report: Main Street Lending Program Added Substantially to the Credit Supply Available to Small and Medium-Sized Borrowers
March 29, 2021
The Main Street Lending Program (Program) was intended to foster the flow of credit to small and medium-sized businesses and nonprofit organizations so that they could continue to operate during the COVID-19 outbreak. According to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Program successfully served its purpose, especially with respect to smaller businesses, even though the Program used only a small fraction – $17.5 billion – of its capacity to facilitate $600 billion in loans.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Compliance Issues Related to Suspicious Activity Monitoring and Reporting at Broker-Dealers
March 29, 2021
The Securities and Exchange Commission issued an announcement titled “Compliance Issues Related to Suspicious Activity Monitoring and Reporting at Broker-Dealers.” The Division of Examinations (EXAMS) conducts examinations of broker-dealers and mutual funds regarding their compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) requirements. In sharing its observations from these examinations of broker-dealers, EXAMS is seeking to remind firms of their obligations under AML rules and regulations and to assist broker-dealers in reviewing and enhancing their AML programs, in particular their monitoring for and reporting of suspicious activity to law enforcement and financial regulators.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
CFPB Acting Director Uejio and FTC Acting Chairwoman Slaughter Issue Joint Statement on Preventing Illegal Evictions
March 29, 2021
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Acting Director Dave Uejio and Federal Trade Commission Acting Chairwoman Rebecca Slaughter issued a joint statement regarding their agencies’ work to help stop illegal evictions and protect American consumers facing economic hardship due to COVID-19.
FINRA
FINRA Investor Insight: Investing in a SPAC
March 29, 2021
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority released an Investor Insight titled “Investing in a SPAC,” which provides information on the basics of investing in a special purpose acquisition company or SPAC.
U.S. Department of Education
Education Department Announces Relief for Student Loan Borrowers with Total and Permanent Disabilities during the COVID-19 Emergency
March 29, 2021
The Department of Education announced relief for certain borrowers who have received student loan discharges due to total and permanent disability. The changes will ensure no borrowers are at risk of having their loans reinstated, meaning they would have to repay their debt, for failure to provide earnings information during the COVID-19 emergency.
International
Bank of England
Bank of England Policy on Operational Resilience of FMIs
March 29, 2021
The Bank of England issued a release discussing its operational resilience policy and documents it has published in efforts to put in place a stronger regulatory framework to promote the operational resilience of firms and financial market infrastructure firms.
- Operational resilience: Impact tolerances for important business services
- Operational Resilience: Central Counterparties - Policy Statement
- Operational Resilience: Central Counterparties - Supervisory Statement
- Operational Resilience: Central Securities Depositories - Policy Statement
- Operational Resilience: Central Securities Depositories - Supervisory Statement
- Operational Resilience: Recognized Payment System Operators and Specified Service Providers - Policy Statement
- Operational Resilience: Recognized Payment System Operators and Specified Service Providers - Supervisory Statement
- News Release
The FCA and the Bank of England Encourage Market Participants in a Switch to SONIA in the Sterling Non-Linear Derivatives Market from May 11, 2021
March 29, 2021
The Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority issued a release encouraging liquidity providers in the sterling non-linear derivatives market to adopt new quoting conventions for inter-dealer trading based on SONIA instead of LIBOR from May 11, 2021.