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)
- Treasury Announces Key Staff Appointment (March 2, 2021)
- Statement from Secretary Yellen on President Biden’s Intention to Nominate Key Roles for Treasury (March 11, 2021)
- Treasury Announces Key Staff Appointments (March 16, 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)
- Senate Confirms Nomination of Isabel Guzman to be SBA Administrator (March 16, 2021)
- Statement of House Committee on Small Business Chair Nydia M. Velazquez (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)
- Marcia Fudge Sworn in As Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (March 10, 2021)
- Statement by Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Chair Sherrod Brown (March 10, 2021)
- Statement by Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Ranking Member Pat Toomey (March 10, 2021)
- Statement by House Committee on Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters (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.”