As banks sell investment-grade loans to reduce capital charges, Carlyle is purchasing and repackaging them into securities that can offer investors attractive returns.

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.

Lenders collected an estimated $25 billion in additional interest income last year by raising the average margin on annual percentage rates, or the amount above the prime rate, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The median interest rate that large credit card issuers charged consumers with good credit in the first half of 2023 was 28.2%, compared with 18.15% at smaller banks and credit unions, according to a study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is on a campaign against excessive fees.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr said Friday that Fed supervisors continue to draw on lessons learned from last March's bank failures—including heightened scrutiny—addressing risks banks currently face including firm asset growth, liquidity pressures and plummeting commercial real estate values.

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."

With tougher capital requirements looming, a number of regionals including U.S. Bancorp, Huntington and Santander are using these new instruments to share risk with nonbank investors and lighten their capital load. Experts point out the pros and cons.

Large and regional banks are taking different approaches to buybacks in light of the proposed new capital rules. Some plan to buy back stock at moderate levels this year, while others say they will to remain on the sidelines until there is more clarity about the reforms.

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.