January’s excess return came in at a level well above the trailing average for the month, thanks in large part to a helpful hand from the Federal Reserve.

Federal Reserve Gov. Lael Brainard said regulators are seeking to "understand the potential benefits and risks" from utilizing artificial intelligence in the financial services sector.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin approved the extension of the Main Street Lending Program, which offers loans to midsize companies affected by the pandemic, to Jan. 8.

The Federal Reserve is credited with containing damage to the financial system from the coronavirus pandemic, but experts say the limits of the central bank’s power to prop up the economy will likely become more apparent in the new year.

The Pennsylvania senator, who will chair the Banking Committee if Republicans hold their majority, agreed to modify an amendment restricting the Federal Reserve’s emergency powers that Democrats had criticized as too extreme.

The Federal Reserve has already agreed to shut down emergency credit programs funded by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, but Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and others want Congress to ensure the central bank cannot revive them.

The Federal Reserve said Tuesday that it had joined the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System after participating in discussions with the group for over a year.

The end date for the Paycheck Protection Program Loan Facility was moved from Dec. 31 to March 31, giving lenders more time to line up the liquidity needed to buy and sell portfolios.

Vice Chairman of Supervision Randal Quarles said the agency wants to figure out why banks are holding on to capital that could be used more aggressively to respond to the pandemic.

The central bank will prolong the life of the Commercial Paper Funding Facility and three other programs while returning congressionally approved funds for five separate facilities that will shut down Dec. 31.

The Trump administration has compelled the Federal Reserve to shut down the Main Street Lending Program and other facilities that aid banks’ pandemic relief efforts, but President-elect Biden’s Treasury nominee could help turn the spigot back on.

Yellen, the former head of the Federal Reserve, would become the first woman to hold the nation’s top economic policy job just as the coronavirus pandemic threatens another downturn.

The move comes a day after the Federal Reserve had balked at the Treasury Department's demand that it return funds meant for pandemic relief that have so far gone unused.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called on the Federal Reserve Thursday to let several of its emergency lending facilities expire at yearend and return unused funds provided by Congress. But the central bank wants the programs to continue.

The Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility was brought back to inject $100 billion into the pandemic-battered economy, but only a fraction has been disbursed. Yet experts, pointing to its calming effects on markets, recommend that it be extended into next year.

Signs of weakness are showing in commercial real estate where property values have begun falling. The report also said that hedge fund leverage has remained elevated and that life insurers are reaching debt levels not seen since the 2008 financial crisis

Demand trends were mixed in the third quarter, with consumers showing more willingness than businesses to take on new debt, according to the Fed’s most recent survey on bank lending practices.

With a Democrat set to take the White House in January, the agenda for agencies like the CFPB could undergo a rapid transformation, housing finance reform could be turned on its head and progressive banking ideas that were unthinkable over the past four years could gain traction.

The statement comes after multiple small and midsize institutions earlier this year warned the agencies that the secured overnight financing rate was ill-suited to them.

How we resolve millions of delinquent mortgages due to COVID is the only question that matters.