Claire Williams

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra pushed back against a new argument posed by Senate Republicans that the bureau may only be funded if the Federal Reserve earns a profit.

A federal judge in Texas is locked in a back-and-forth with an appeals court over whether the industry's challenge to a cap on credit card late fees should be moved to Washington, D.C.

House Financial Services Committee Chair Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., told Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg to make himself available for a June 12 hearing on the agency's workplace culture.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg apologized for his management and temper at a House Financial Services Committee hearing that focused on his handling of the agency in the immediate aftermath of a workplace behavior report outlining serious misconduct that prevailed for years.

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., is asking the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to withdraw a corporate governance guidance proposal as FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg is set to testify in Congress later this week.

When the Trump tax cuts expire next year, the White House will ask for higher corporate taxes and a buyback tax as Congress enters one of its biggest economic fights of the decade, which will have major implications for bankers.

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., is introducing a bill to establish an Office of Supervisory Appeals at each of the banking regulators that would give banks more power over the appeals process.

House Republicans held a subcommittee hearing on reforming bank merger M&A, laying the groundwork to counter Biden administration efforts to make it more difficult for mergers to be approved.

Congressional Review Act resolutions are ramping up ahead of the 2024 election cycle. Experts say that, although none are likely to become law, the resolutions are still powerful messaging and political tools.

The House Financial Services Committee also sent to the full House two bipartisan bills, including one that would prevent large banks from opting out of having to recognize Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income in regulatory capital.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that he would like to examine the proposed acquisition on "narrower bases."

A federal judge in Texas sided with bank trade groups, agreeing that bank regulators might have overstepped their authority in reforming parts of the Community Reinvestment Act.

Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent separate letters to banking regulators on the anniversary of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, with Hagerty questioning the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s sale of Signature Bank's assets and Warren urging the regulators to tighten capital and liquidity requirements.

The letter, which was sent to bank regulators, represents a further escalation of lawmaker criticism of the Basel III endgame proposal, and comes just as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to testify in the House Financial Services Committee.

Rep. Maxine Waters, ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, led the letter, spurred by the recent merger announcement between Capital One and Discover, which the letter said would enable the merged company "to influence multiple points of the marketplace."

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr said in a speech Tuesday that banks might need to establish margin to counteract counterparty risks presented by private funds.

The lawmakers, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said the deal would further anti-consumer bank consolidation, but also criticized the OCC's proposed changes to the merger process, asking that they be strengthened.

The blockbuster merger proposal will be reviewed at a time when the Biden administration is expressing skepticism about consolidation. Its analysis will have to account for markets dominated by both big banks and the likes of Visa and Mastercard.

American Honda Finance Corp., the financing division of carmaker Honda, says that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sent it a "civil investigative demand" connected to the "furnishing of credit reporting information on consumer accounts."

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested that a rate cut is coming, but cast doubt about whether the central bank would see enough data suggesting inflation is sufficiently tamed for interest rates to come down at their next meeting.