CRA

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a report last week examining state CRA laws that have a more expansive scope and are more tightly integrated in the state licensing process.

Heads of the three major bank regulatory agencies made their case for why the recently finalized framework implementing the Community Reinvestment Act is not all bad for the banks subjected to it.

After years of discussion among regulators, the Federal Reserve Board has approved changes to its CRA rules that will base compliance exams on where lending occurs rather than branch locations. The updates — set to take effect in January 2026 — also emphasize lending in lower-income areas as well as community development loans and investments.

Two banking bills signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker carry implications for payday lenders, auto title lenders, credit unions and nonbank mortgage lenders. Pritzker, a Democrat, said the bills will address racial-equity gaps in the state.

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.

The administration faces a slew of immediate financial policy tasks, such as passing a new round of small-business aid, charting a course for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and filling vacant agency leadership posts.

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.

A second-term Trump administration would likely continue its deregulatory efforts, focus on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's exit from conservatorship, and seek to facilitate fintech participation in the banking system.

The comptroller, now a year and a half on the job, discusses his attempts to revamp the supervision process for national banks and make the agency run more efficiently.

“We have actually discouraged banks from innovating,” FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams said in announcing a move that other agencies have made.