PH FedACTion: Financial Regulatory Updates
Daily Financial Regulation Update -- Friday, April 23, 2021
April 23, 2021
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Administration Changes
Appointments/Confirmation Hearings
Department of the Treasury – Janet Yellen (effective January 26, 2021)
- Statement by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Confirmation of Wally Adeyemo as Deputy Secretary (March 25, 2021)
- Treasury Announces Key Staff Appointments (April 20, 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)
- Statement by Acting Chair Allison Herren Lee and Commissioners on Confirmation of Gary Gensler (April 14, 2021)
- Statement by FINRA President and CEO Robert W. Cook on Confirmation of Gary Gensler (April 14, 2021)
- Statement by Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Chair Sherrod Brown on Confirmation of Gary Gensler (April 14, 2021)
- Statement by House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters on Confirmation of Gary Gensler (April 15, 2021)
- Gary Gensler Names Initial Executive Staff Members (April 19, 2021)
- Alex Oh Named SEC Director of Enforcement (April 22, 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)
Department of Education – Dr. Miguel Cardona (effective March 2, 2011)
- U.S. Department of Education Announces More Biden-Harris Appointees (April 9, 2021)
- Statement by Secretary Cardona on President Biden's Nomination of Gwen Graham (April 16, 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. Senate
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
U.S. Senate Banking Committee Holds Hearing on Clean Energy Economy Opportunities
April 22, 2021
The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a hearing entitled, “21st Century Communities: Capitalizing on Opportunities in the Clean Energy Economy.”
- Hearing Page
- Statement by Committee Chair Sherrod Brown
- Statement by Ranking Member Patrick J. Toomey
U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Financial Services
Committee Passes Legislation Aimed at Advancing Racial Equity, Protecting Consumers, Improving Public Company Disclosures; and sets Committee Priorities
April 21, 2021
The U.S. House Committee on Financial Services (Committee) passed eight bills, including legislation aimed at advancing racial and economic justice, promoting equity in the financial system, ensuring consumers are not exposed to abusive debt collection practices, and providing key material information to investors. The Committee by unanimous consent adopted resolutions to continue its review of issues at the intersection and technologies and to study artificial intelligence. The adopted bills include:
- The Shareholder Political Transparency Act (H.R. 1087), which would require public companies to submit quarterly reports to both the SEC and investors detailing the amount, date, and nature of the company’s expenditures for political activities. The bill also requires public companies to disclose in their annual reports any political expenditures over $10,000 in the previous year as well as the nature and amount of any political expenditures the company plans to make in the upcoming year.
- The ESG Disclosure Simplification Act (H.R. 1187), which would require issuers to disclose certain environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics to shareholders, the connection between those metrics and the issuer’s long term business strategy, and the method by which the issuer determines how ESG metrics impact its long term strategy.
- The Improving Corporate Governance Through Diversity Act (H.R. 1277, which would require public companies to annually disclose the voluntarily, self-identified gender, race, ethnicity and veteran status of their board directors.
- The Diversity and Inclusion Data Accountability and Transparency Act (H.R. 2123), which would require regulated entities to disclose diversity data, policies and practices to their respective federal financial regulators.
- The Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in Banking Act (H.R. 2516), which would require Federal banking regulators to include a diversity and inclusion component in the CAMELS rating system to evaluate how federally insured depository institutions are promoting diversity and inclusion.
- The Federal Reserve Racial and Economic Equity Act (H.R. 2543), which would require the Federal Reserve to carry out its duties in a manner that supports the elimination of racial and ethnic disparities in employment, income, wealth and access to affordable credit.
- The Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act (H.R. 2547), which would strengthen protections for small business lending, ensure fair debt collection for servicemembers, advocate on behalf of consumers with student and medical debt, end debt collection harassment and abuse, and create guardrails for consumers against private debt collectors.
- News Release
Federal Agencies
Department of the Treasury
Treasury, IRS, BFS Announce Two Million Economic Impact Payments
April 22, 2021
The U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service announced they are disbursing nearly two million payments in the sixth batch of Economic Impact Payments from the American Rescue Plan.
Treasury Secretary Yellen Issues Remarks at Leaders Summit on Climate
April 22, 2021
Janet L. Yellen, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, issued remarks at the Leaders Summit on Climate. In her remarks, Secretary Yellen focused on the questions of how nations can best reduce emissions while supporting economic development and growth, and how governments should target public sector climate finance to mobilize the greatest private sector investments.
Federal Reserve Board
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Agencies Propose Rule for Income Tax Allocation Agreements
April 22, 2021
The federal bank regulatory agencies – the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency – invited comment on a proposed rule that updates and codifies existing guidance on income tax allocation agreements involving depository institutions and their affiliates.
Conference of State Bank Supervisors
CSBS Blog Post Explores Latest Information on Climate Risk Management
April 22, 2021
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) published a blog post entitled, “Climate Risk Management: The Latest Information,” in which the CSBS explored recent steps taken by federal regulatory agency leaders towards understanding the financial risks associated with climate risk.
CSBS Blog Post Examines Networked Supervision
April 22, 2021
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) published a blog post entitled, “Networked Supervision: The Evolution of State Regulation,” in which the CSBS explored Networked Supervision, a dynamic strategy for supervision adopted by state financial regulators that harnesses technology and harmonizes efforts.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
FDIC Issues Proposed Rule Regarding False Advertising, Insured Status Misrepresentations, and Misuse of FDIC’s Name, Logo
April 22, 2021
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a proposed rule implementing its statutory authority to prohibit any person or organization from making misrepresentations about FDIC deposit insurance or misusing the FDIC’s name or logo.
FDIC Releases Working Paper on Private Equity and Financial Stability
April 22, 2021
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Center for Financial Research released a working paper entitled, “Private Equity and Financial Stability: Evidence from Failed Bank Resolution in the Crisis”. In sum, the FDIC found that private equity (PE) investors had a positive role in stabilizing the financial system in the 2008 crisis through their involvement in failed bank resolution. The FDIC found that PE investors made substantial investments in underperforming and riskier failed banks and that PE investors helped channel capital to underperforming failed banks when the “natural” potential bank acquirers were themselves constrained, filling the gap created by a weak, undercapitalized banking sector. The FDIC also found that PE-acquired banks performed better ex post, with positive real effects for local economies.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
CFTC Staff Issues Conditional Relief from Reporting Fully Collateralized Binary Option Data to Swap Data Repositories
April 22, 2021
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced that the Division of Data, the Division of Market Oversight, and the Division of Clearing and Risk have provided no-action relief to KalshiEX LLC, a designated contract market, and LedgerX, LLC, a derivatives clearing organization, from reporting to swap data repositories, data for binary option transactions executed on or subject to the rules of Kalshi and cleared by LedgerX. The no-action relief also exempts Kalshi and LedgerX from certain related recordkeeping requirements, and is consistent with staff-level relief previously provided to other similarly situated designated contract markets and derivatives clearing organizations.
National Credit Union Association
NCUA Board Briefed on Emerging Cybersecurity Threats, PCA Relief Measures
April 22, 2021
The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board held its fourth open meeting of 2021 and was briefed on two matters: current cybersecurity events and trends affecting federally insured credit unions and the broader financial system; and an interim final rule that temporarily modifies two areas of NCUA’s prompt corrective action regulations.
U.S. Small Business Administration
SBA Announces First-of-Its-Kind Technology Initiative for Restaurant Revitalization Fund
April 22, 2021
The U.S. Small Business Administration announced the first round of technology partners participating in a new initiative for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), a program that will allow eligible restaurants and other food establishments to access the RRF application or data they need to fill out the application through their trusted point-of-sale service providers.
Department of Housing and Urban Development/Federal Housing Administration
HUD Withdraws Proposed Rule
April 22, 2021
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge announced that HUD is withdrawing the previous administration’s proposed rule that would have weakened the Equal Access Rule, which ensures that all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, have equal access to HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development programs, shelters, other buildings and facilities, benefits, services and accommodations.
Department of Labor
Labor Department Issues News Release on Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims
April 22, 2021
The U.S. Department of Labor issued a news release regarding weekly unemployment insurance claims. The release states that, in the week ending April 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 547,000, a decrease of 39,000 from the previous week’s revised level (and the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000); the previous week’s level was revised up by 10,000 from 576,000 to 586,000; the four-week moving average was 651,000, a decrease of 27,750 from the previous week’s revised average (and the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500); and the previous week’s average was revised down by 4,250 from 683,000 to 678,750.
State Agencies
California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation
California DFPI Hosts Inaugural Economic Equity Conference
April 21, 2021
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation hosted its inaugural Economic Equity Conference, drawing more than 450 banking executives and senior regulators from across the state and unveiling its first-ever Survey of Diversity in State Banking.
International
Bank of England
Bank Issues Cash Ratio Deposits Statistical Notice
April 22, 2021
The Bank of England issued a Statistical Notice regarding Cash Ratio Deposits.
Bank of England Prudential Regulation Authority
PRA Issues Statement on Remuneration Benchmarking and Remuneration High Earners Reporting Templates
April 22, 2021
The Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) issued a statement advising firms on the PRA’s approach to the Remuneration Benchmarking and Remuneration High Earners reporting templates, as part of the EBA’s Taxonomy 2.10.