PH FedACTion: Financial Regulatory Updates
Daily Financial Regulation Update -- Thursday, February 27, 2021
February 27, 2021
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Administration Changes
Appointments/Confirmation Hearings
Department of the Treasury – Janet Yellen (effective January 26, 2021)
- Treasury Announces Confirmation of Secretary Janet Yellen (January 26, 2021)
- Statement of House Committee on Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters on Confirmation of Janet Yellen (January 26, 2021)
- Treasury Announces the Appointment of Members of Senior Staff (January 20, 2021)
- Treasury Announces Appointment of Several Members of Staff (February 3, 2021)
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – Rohit Chopra (Nominee)
- Acting Director: Dave Uejio (January 20, 2020)
- Confirmation hearing scheduled for March 2, 2021
- Readout of Incoming Chair Brown’s Meeting with Rohit Chopra (February 3, 2021)
Securities and Exchange Commission – Gary Gensler (Nominee)
- Acting Chair: Allison Herren Lee (January 21, 2021)
- Confirmation hearing scheduled for March 2, 2021
- Acting Chair Allison Herren Lee Announces Executive Staff (February 1, 2021)
- Kelly L. Gibson Named Acting Deputy Director of Division of Enforcement (February 5, 2021)
- Readout of Chairman Brown’s Meeting with Gary Gensler Nominee to be Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (February 26, 2021)
Small Business Administration – Isabel Guzman (Nominee)
- Small Business Committee Votes to Advance SBA Administrator Nominee Isabel Guzman (February 24, 2021)
- Acting Administrator: Tami Perriello (January 20, 2021)
- Confirmation hearing to be scheduled (additional details to follow)
Commodity Futures Trade Commission
National Credit Union Administration – Todd M. Harper
Department of Housing and Urban Development – Marcia Fudge (Nominee)
- Acting Secretary: Matthew E. Ammon
- HUD Announces New Leadership Appointees (January 26, 2021)
- Statement by Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Chairman Sherrod Brown (February 4, 2021)
- HUD Announces More Key Staff (February 16, 2021)
Department of Education – Miguel Cardona (Nominee)
- Acting Secretary: Phil Rosenfelt (January 20, 2021)
- Education Announces Senior Appointees (January 21, 2021)
- Education Announces More Biden-Harris Appointees (February 3, 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 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
Congresswoman Waters Announces March Hearing Schedule
February 26, 2021
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, announced the Committee hearing schedule for March 2021.
Committee on Small Business
Committee Report Outlines COVID’s Devastating Impact on Black-Owned Small Businesses
February 26, 2021
House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez released a report detailing the devastating impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on Black-owned businesses in the United States. The report surveyed the current business landscape for black entrepreneurs and proposed policy solutions to spark a more equitable recovery.
Federal Agencies
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Preliminary Report on Foreign Holdings of U.S. Securities at End-June 2020
February 26, 2021
The U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) issued a report titled “Preliminary Report on Foreign Holdings of U.S. Securities at End-June 2020.”
Federal Reserve Board
Release of Updated Sections of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual
February 26, 2021
The Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve System released a letter titled “Release of Updated Sections of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s Bank Secrecy Act /Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual.” According to the letter, members of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council released several updated sections and related examination procedures to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Examination Manual (Manual). The Manual provides instructions to examiners when assessing the adequacy of a bank’s BSA/AML compliance program, relative to its risk profile, and the bank’s compliance with BSA regulatory requirements. The new and revised sections provide further transparency into the BSA/AML examination process and do not establish new requirements.
Inactive or Revised SR Letters Related to the Federal Reserve’s Supervisory Expectations for a Firm’s Boards of Directors
February 26, 2021
The Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve) released a letter titled “Inactive or Revised SR Letters Related to the Federal Reserve’s Supervisory Expectations for a Firm’s Boards of Directors.” The purpose of the letter is to present the results of the Federal Reserve’s review of supervisory expectations for boards of directors of bank and savings and loan holding companies that are presented in certain existing Supervision and Regulation and Consumer Affairs letters. The purpose of the initiative was to review and revise, as appropriate, supervisory views on boards of directors for all domestic bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies contained in certain existing Supervision and Regulation and Consumer Affairs letters to better align with the Federal Reserve’s supervisory framework.
Supervisory Guidance on Board of Directors' Effectiveness
February 26, 2021
The Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve System released a letter titled “Supervisory Guidance on Board of Directors’ Effectiveness.” The guidance describes the key attributes of effective boards at large domestic bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies to: (i) set clear, aligned and consistent direction regarding the firm's strategy and risk appetite; (ii) direct senior management regarding the board’s information needs; (iii) oversee and hold senior management accountable; (iv) support the independence and stature of independent risk management and internal audit; and (v) maintain a capable board composition and governance structure. The guidance also includes illustrative examples of effective board practices.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
The Division of Examinations’ Continued Focus on Digital Asset Securities
February 26, 2021
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Division of Examinations (Division) issued a Risk Alert to provide observations made by Division staff during examinations of investment advisers, broker-dealers and transfer agents regarding digital asset securities that may assist firms in developing and enhancing their compliance practices.
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Funds
February 26, 2021
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued an Investor Alert and Bulletin titled “Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Funds” in order to educate investors about ESG Funds, including important questions to ask if investors are considering whether to invest in them.
U.S. Department of Labor
Guidance on Continuation of Relief for Employee Benefit Plans and Plan Participants and Beneficiaries Due to the COVID-19 Outbreak
February 26, 2021
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a notice which provides guidance on the duration of the COVID-19-related relief provided by Employee Benefits Security Administration Disaster Relief Notice 2020-01 and the Notice of Extension of Certain Timeframes for Employee Benefit Plans, Participants, and Beneficiaries Affected by the COVID–19 Outbreak, issued by the DOL, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service.
International
Bank of England
Solvency Distress Contagion Risk: Network Structure, Bank Heterogeneity and Systemic Resilience
February 26, 2021
The Bank of England released a paper titled “Solvency Distress Contagion Risk: Network Structure, Bank Heterogeneity and Systemic Resilience.”
How Do Secured Funding Markets Behave under Stress? Evidence from the Gilt Repo Market
February 26, 2021
The Bank of England released a paper titled “How Do Secured Funding Markets Behave under Stress? Evidence from the Gilt Repo Market.”
Optimal Policy with Occasionally Binding Constraints: Piecewise Linear Solution Methods
February 26, 2021
The Bank of England released a paper titled “Optimal Policy with Occasionally Binding Constraints: Piecewise Linear Solution Methods.”
Speech: Inflation: A Tiger by the Tail?
February 26, 2021
Andy Haldane, Chief Economist and Member of the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England, gave a speech titled “Inflation: A Tiger by the Tail?”
Speech: The UK’s Progress on Resolvability
February 26, 2021
Dave Ramsden, Deputy Governor, Markets and Banking at the Bank of England gave a speech titled “The UK’s Progress on Resolvability.”