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PH FedACTion: Financial Regulatory Updates

Daily Financial Regulation Update --Friday, March 19, 2021

March 19, 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

Hearing on Risks to Financial System Associated with Climate Change

March 18, 2021

U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and Pat Toomey, Ranking Member (R-PA), delivered opening statements at a hearing titled “21st Century Economy: Protecting the Financial System from Risks Associated with Climate Change.”

Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Small Business Committee Hearing to Extend PPP Deadline

March 17, 2021

U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Chair Ben Cardin (D-MD) convened a hearing to examine the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Two of the witnesses who provided testimony during the hearing, Opportunity Finance Network President and CEO Lisa Mensah and The Y in Central Maryland President and CEO John K. Hoey, urged Congress to pass legislation to extend the current March 31, 2021 deadline for PPP loans.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee on Financial Services

Congresswoman Waters at Subcommittee Hearing on Diversity Data: We Are Continuing to Hold the Financial Services Industry Accountable

March 18, 2021

The Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion held a virtual hearing titled, “By the Numbers: How Diversity Data Can Measure Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.”

Congresswomen Waters and Beatty Request Diversity Data From the Nation’s Largest Investment Firms

March 18, 2021

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, and Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Chair of the Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion, sent requests to the nation’s 31 largest investment firms, those with $400 billion or more of assets under management, for data on their diversity and inclusion.

Committee on Small Business

Statement: The Role of Community Navigators in Reaching Underserved Businesses

March 18, 2021

The Honorable Jared Golden gave a statement on the role of community navigators in reaching underserved businesses.

Federal Agencies

U.S. Department of the Treasury

Remarks by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen to the Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee

March 17, 2021

U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen gave remarks at a meeting of the Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee.

Federal Reserve Board

Closing Remarks by Chair Powell at a Conference Hosted by the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures

March 18, 2021

Jerome H. Powell, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, gave closing remarks at a conference hosted by the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures titled “Pushing the Frontiers of Payments: Towards Faster, Cheaper, More Transparent and More Inclusive Cross Border Payments.”

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Encourages Financial Institutions and Debt Collectors to Allow Stimulus Payments to Reach Consumers

March 17, 2021

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Acting Director Dave Uejio issued a statement regarding consumers’ access to Economic Impact Payment funds distributed through the American Rescue Plan. Mr. Uejio encouraged financial institutions and debt collectors to allow stimulus payments to reach consumers.

FINRA

FINRA Reminds Member Firms of Their Obligations Regarding Customer Order Handling, Margin Requirements and Effective Liquidity Management Practices during Extreme Market Conditions

March 18, 2021

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued a notice to remind member firms of their obligations during extreme market conditions with respect to handling customer orders, maintaining appropriate margin requirements and effectively managing their liquidity.   

National Credit Union Administration

NCUA Third Open Meeting of 2021

March 18, 2021

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board held its third open meeting of 2021 and unanimously approved (i) a temporary interim final rule permitting federally insured credit unions to use asset data as of March 31, 2020, to determine the applicability of certain regulatory asset thresholds during calendar years 2021 and 2022, and (ii) an interim final rule making conforming changes to the NCUA’s regulations on the Central Liquidity Facility because of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.

Department of Housing and Urban Development/Federal Housing Administration

HUD Releases 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report Part 1

March 18, 2021

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released its 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report Part 1 to Congress. The report found that 580,466 people experienced homelessness in the United States on a single night in 2020, an increase of 12,751 people, or 2.2 percent, from 2019. Such numbers preceded COVID-19, which likely increased homelessness.

U.S. Department of Labor

DOL Releases Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report Update

March 18, 2021

The U.S. Department of Labor released an Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report update. In the week ending March 13, 2021, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 770,000, an increase of 45,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 13,000 from 712,000 to 725,000. The four-week moving average was 746,250, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 3,250 from 759,000 to 762,250.

International

European Banking Authority

EBA Consults on its Revised Guidelines on Recovery Plan Indicators

March 18, 2021

The European Banking Authority published a consultation paper on its revised Guidelines on recovery plan indicators. While maintaining overall stability to the current recovery plan indicators framework, the revised Guidelines provide additional guidance on indicators’ calibration, monitoring and breaches notifications. The amendments aim at strengthening the quality of recovery indicators framework and contributing to effective crisis preparedness of institutions. 

Bank of England

Bank Rate Maintained at 0.1% - March 2021

March 18, 2021

At its meeting ending on March 17, 2021, the Bank of England’s (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) judged that the existing stance of monetary policy remains appropriate. The MPC voted unanimously to maintain Bank Rate at 0.1%. 

Latest results from the Decision Maker Panel Survey – 2021 Q1

March 18, 2021

The Bank of England released the latest results from its Decision Maker Panel Survey for the first quarter of 2021. According to survey results, UK businesses continued to report a significant impact from COVID-19. Respondents expected sales in the first quarter of 2021 to be around 22% lower than they would have been in the absence of COVID (on an employment-weighted basis). Employment was expected to be 10% lower and investment 22% lower. The estimated sales impact for first quarter of 2021 was 5 percentage points lower than for the fourth quarter of 2020.

UK Financial Conduct Authority

Speech: From Regulator to Firm to Consumer: a Virtuous Chain of Events

March 18, 2021

Georgina Philippou, Senior Adviser to the Financial Conduct Authority on the Public Sector Equality Duty, delivered a speech at the Building Ethnic Diversity and Inclusion in Investment Management - Report Launch titled “From Regulatory to Firm to Consumer: A Virtuous Chain of Events.”