The Senate Banking Committee met Wednesday to review central bank lending facilities such as the Main Street Lending Program, which provides bank-issued loans to middle-market firms. But some lawmakers on the panel said the focus of pandemic relief has been misplaced.

This proposed Libor replacement is an imaginary, backward-looking benchmark dreamed up by the economists at the Fed with no discernible market.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced a new approach to monetary policy Thursday that takes a more relaxed stance on inflation and on its view of how low U.S. unemployment can go.

Citigroup’s $900 million payment blunder in a normally low-profile part of the financial market dominated by a handful of banks has experts wondering if regulators will uncover a deeper problem.

The bank has begun briefing regulators about how it mistakenly sent payments to creditors of Revlon, the financially strapped cosmetics company. Citi has also filed a lawsuit against Brigade Capital Management seeking to recoup $175 million it sent to Brigade on Revlon's behalf.

The Fed's TALF program to support AAA-rated ABS securities issuance continues to resonate in the prime auto securitization space.

Many commercial property owners are locked out of existing coronavirus relief by financing terms that bar them from taking new loans. Under a House bill, they would receive government-backed equity investments.

Policymakers have eased some rules and the Supreme Court recently dealt a blow to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But as the landmark legislation approaches its 10th anniversary, the post-crisis regulatory regime has stayed largely intact.

The Federal Reserve's extraordinary effort to keep credit flowing to companies during the COVID-19 pandemic is also shunting money to banks' bottom lines.

The panel later this month will vote on the nomination of Judy Shelton, whose views on certain policy issues have met with skepticism from both Democrats and Republicans.

A bond market once thought to be key to the futures of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — and the roughly $5 trillion of home loans they backstop — could instead find itself on the scrap heap due to their own regulator.

Banks participating in the Main Street Lending Program were able to register for and offer credit to businesses last month, but the Federal Reserve said Monday it was set to make the effort fully operational.

The inability of Democrats and Republicans to agree on a chairperson and lack of sufficient personnel have made it harder for the commission to do its job — hold Treasury and the Fed accountable for implementing the coronavirus relief law, observers say.

The Fed chairman updated senators about the agency's new credit facility for midsize firms struggling in the pandemic. He also left open the possibility of additional stress tests to gauge the industry’s coronavirus response.

Mortgage rates increased slightly for the second consecutive week, buoyed early on by positive economic news such as the jobs report that came out last Friday, according to Freddie Mac.

The central bank is only now nearing the launch of the credit facilities after the effort was announced in April. But Chairman Jerome Powell said loans have been available through other means.

Unlike in previous years, the results from two different evaluations will be released simultaneously and will include an assessment of bank capital under coronavirus-related scenarios.

The central bank will increase support for credit issued through the Main Street Lending Program while providing midsize firms with more flexibility on the amounts they receive.

The Federal Reserve set up a liquidity facility to help banks meet demand for emergency small-business loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, but it's gone largely unused.

The general structure of this year’s reviews is unchanged despite the pandemic. But a supplemental analysis of banks' response to the downturn could weigh heavily in evaluating 2020 capital distributions and making adjustments to the tests over the long run.