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PH FedACTion: Financial Regulatory Updates

Daily Financial Regulation Update -- Wednesday, March 17, 2021

March 17, 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)

Securities and Exchange Commission – Gary Gensler (Nominee)

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

Senator Brown Opening Statement: We Must Bring Equity to America’s Housing System

March 16, 2021

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs , delivered an opening statement at a virtual hearing titled “Home = Life: The State of Housing in America.”

Federal Agencies

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

March 2021 Business Leaders Survey

March 16, 2021

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York issued its Business Leaders Survey for March 2021. The survey’s headline business activity index rose seventeen points to -4.8, its highest level in five months. The business climate index increased fifteen points to -50.4, indicating that firms continued to view the business climate as worse than normal, though less extensively than in recent months. Employment levels continued to decline, and wage increases continued to accelerate. Input prices increased at the fastest pace in two years, and selling price increases picked up. Capital spending fell for the twelfth consecutive month, though capital spending plans over the next six months remained positive. Looking ahead, firms expressed widespread optimism that conditions would improve, the first time such optimism has been expressed since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and the future employment index reached a record high.

Virtual Event: The State of the 50+ Entrepreneur

March 16, 2021

On March 30, 2021, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the AARP will host a virtual event titled “The State of the 50+ Entrepreneur.” The event will bring together thought leaders, researchers, and policymakers, to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older business owners and their firms, and what might be done to help their recovery.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Commissioner Peirce Speech: Paper, Plastic, Peer-to-Peer

March 16, 2021

Hester M. Peirce, Commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, gave a speech titled “Paper, Plastic, Peer-to-Peer” at the British Blockchain Association’s Conference “Success Through Synergy: Next Generation Leadership for Extraordinary Times.”

National Credit Union Association

NCUA Releases 2020 Annual Report

March 16, 2021

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) released its 2020 Annual Report, highlighting the NCUA’s activities and policy initiatives surrounding the economic fallout related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

U.S. Small Business Administration

Small Business Facts: Business Ownership Demographics

March 16, 2021

The Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration released “Small Business Facts: Business Ownership Demographics” for March 2021.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development/Federal Housing Administration

Key Considerations From Prior Audits of the Single Family Default Monitoring System and the Partial Claim Loss Mitigation Option

March 16, 2021

The Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) prepared a memorandum to provide the Office of Housing at HUD with key considerations from prior audits of the HUD Single Family Default Monitoring System and the partial claim loss mitigation option. The audits identified HUD’s lack of effective controls to ensure that lenders reported default information accurately and in a timely manner, lenders promptly filed and reported partial claims, and partial claims fully reinstated delinquent loans. 

Freddie Mac

Freddie Mac Names Mark B. Grier as Interim CEO

March 16, 2021

Freddie Mac announced that the company has named Mark B. Grier, Member of the Board of Directors and veteran of the financial services industry, as the company’s Interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Mr. Grier served as Vice Chairman and a Member of the Board of Directors of Prudential Financial, Inc. until his retirement in 2019. He joined the Freddie Mac Board in February 2020 and will continue to serve on the company’s Board during his tenure as Interim CEO.

International

European Banking Authority

The EBA Will Make its Basel III Monitoring Exercise Mandatory

March 16, 2021

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published a decision that will change the Basel III monitoring exercise from its current voluntary nature to a mandatory exercise from December 2021. The change stems from the need to expand the sample to more jurisdictions and credit institutions, making it more representative, as well as to reach a stable sample over time by providing authorities with a sound legal basis that frames institutions’ participation.

Bank of England

Deputy Governor of PRA Speech on Insurance Sector in the U.K.: Brave New World

March 16, 2021

Sam Woods, Deputy Governor for Prudential Regulation and Chief Executive Officer of the Prudential Regulation Authority gave a speech titled “Brave New World,” in which he noted that regulation of the insurance sector in the UK is about to change.

UK Financial Conduct Authority

Speech: A Forward Look at Regulation of the UK’s Wholesale Financial Markets

March 16, 2021

Edwin Schooling Latter, Director of Markets and Wholesale Policy at the Financial Conduct Authority, delivered a speech titled “A Forward Look at Regulation of the UK’s Wholesale Financial Markets.”

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