John Heltman is the Washington Bureau Chief for American Banker. John previously edited American Banker Magazine and is the creator of American Banker's narrative podcast Bankshot. He was awarded the Grand Neal, the top honor bestowed by the Jesse H. Neal Awards, in 2019 for his narrative podcast series Nobody’s Home, which examines the economic and social impact of concentrated vacant housing. He was also named the 2019 McAllister Editorial Fellow at Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He is a 2005 graduate of St. Mary’s College of Maryland and lives in Baltimore, Md.
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Economists say the U.S. economy is leaving 2024 healthy, with unemployment low, inflation manageable and growth robust. Unknown variables — including the depth and scope of President-elect Donald Trump's immigration and tariff policies — could change that course, but likely not until 2026.
December 23 -
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said the FICO credit-scoring model has drawbacks in price, predictiveness and market competition, and stakeholders should develop a more open-sourced model that uses artificial intelligence.
November 21 -
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said regulators urgently need to implement the Basel III endgame bank capital proposal, suggesting his opposition to the revised rule centers on the process of re-proposal rather than more substantive opposition to suggested revisions.
October 24 -
A federal appeals court is putting the transfer of a lawsuit challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on hold pending the outcome of a hearing on the suit's appropriate venue.
April 1 -
Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr says that while there has been some opposition to the recent overhaul of Community Reinvestment Act regulations, he expects that banks, supervisors and communities will adapt and thrive once it's fully implemented.
November 3 -
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said in a report released Friday that Signature's rapid, unrestrained growth and inadequate risk management practices outpaced supervisors' ratings and responses, even though the issues were known to the agency.
April 28 -
The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco confirmed Thursday night that Silvergate Bank has "fully repaid" the $4.3 billion it was lent in advances late last year. The bank had said in a regulatory filing that repaying the advances "could result in ... the bank being less than well-capitalized."
March 2 -
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that interest rates could climb less quickly as early as December, but warned that cutting rates "is not something we want to do soon."
November 30 -
In a Senate Banking Committee hearing on the economy, Republicans reiterated their demand for more transparency from Sarah Bloom Raskin, President Biden's pick to serve as vice chairman for supervision at the Federal Reserve.
February 17 -
Some nominees poised to take their agencies in a new direction appear headed for Senate confirmation while an intraparty squabble has delayed the administration’s choice to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Here’s the roster update.
March 9
