U.S. Financial Regulatory Week Ahead

Written By Francis Kelly

June 10 - 14, 2024

This coming week will be another busy week for the financial regulatory world in Washington.  Congress is working its way through the 2025 appropriations process, and that means we will see SEC Chair Gary Gensler and CFTC Chair Rostin Benham testifying in defense of their budgetary requests before the Senate Appropriations Committee.  All this is important, but our view is there is little chance Congress will get all the funding bills done before the November election and or the end of the year, punting it to the new Congress in January. 

But the big event this week will be in the House Financial Services Committee.  Committee Chair Patrick McHenry (R-NC) has called for a hearing to examine the recent independent investigatory report on the FDIC's out-of-control culture under FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg.  While Gruenberg has said he will resign as soon as the Senate confirms a replacement, he also knows there is virtually no chance of that happening by the end of this year.  Now, incredibly, he is refusing to show up to testify before the Financial Services Committee.  In his place, two FDIC Directors, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu and FDIC Director Jonathan McKernan, along with the two external lawyers who conducted the investigation, will testify.

This is an extraordinary event in many ways.  Many observers we have spoken to cannot remember seeing any agency or department head who has been shown to both tolerate such a poisonous culture and was also explicitly engaged in it defy calls to step down immediately and now refuse to answer questions from the congressional committee with direct oversight of his agency.  In a word, Gruenberg seems to have gone rogue.  Expect a lot of fireworks this week and massive new pressure for him to step down immediately. 

Both the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee will host the annual "Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Semi-Annual Report to Congress" Events.  CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, who is also an FDIC Director, will be the key witness at both hearings.  Given the context, he will likely face numerous questions about Gruenberg's situation.

Below is a complete listing of what is happening at the financial regulatory agencies this week and in Congress.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

U.S. Congressional Hearings

U.S. Senate

House of Representatives

  • Wednesday, June 12, 10:00 a.m. – The House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing on "Oversight of the FDIC's Failed Leadership and Toxic Workplace Culture."  Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, FDIC Director Jonathan McKernan, and two partners from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, the law firm that conducted the inquiry into the agency’s workplace troubles, are scheduled to testify.  FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg is refusing to testify.

  • Thursday, June 13, 10:00 a.m. – The House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing “The Semi-Annual Report of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.”  CFPB Director Rohit Chopra will testify.

  • Thursday, June 13, 10:00 a.m. – The House Budget Committee will hold a hearing on “Medicare and Social Security: Examining Solvency and Impact to the Federal Budget.” Paul Spitalnick, Chief Actuary for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Stephen Goss, Chief Actuary for the Social Security Administration, will testify.

Joint Committees

  • Wednesday, June 12, 3:00 p.m.: The Joint Economic Committee will hold a hearing on "Made in America: The Boom in U.S. Manufacturing Investment."

US Regulatory Meetings & Events

Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks

  • Tuesday & Wednesday, June 11-12 – The Federal Open Market Committee holds a closed meeting to discuss the economy and interest rates.  There will be a press conference held by Fed Chair Jay Powell on June 12 at 2:30 p.m.

U.S. Treasury Department

  • There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Department of Housing and Urban Development

  • Thursday, June 13, 1:00 p.m. - The Housing and Urban Development Department will hold a virtual meeting of the Housing Counseling Federal Advisory Committee for presentations and discussion among HCFAC members.

Securities and Exchange Commission

Commodities Futures Trading Commission

FINRA

  • There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

  • Thursday, June 12, 10:00 a.m. – FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg has been called to testify (and is refusing to attend) the House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing entitled "Oversight of the FDIC's Failed Leadership and Toxic Workplace Culture."  Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, FDIC Director Jonathan McKernan and two partners from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, the law firm that conducted the inquiry into the agency’s workplace troubles, are scheduled to testify. 

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

  • Wednesday, June 12, 10:00 a.m. – Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu will testify before the House Financial Services Committee at a hearing entitled "Oversight of the FDIC's Failed Leadership and Toxic Workplace Culture."   Also testifying will be FDIC Director Jonathan McKernan and two partners from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, the law firm that conducted the inquiry into the agency’s workplace troubles, are scheduled to testify.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

  • There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

National Credit Union Administration

  • There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Federal Trade Commission & Department of Justice Antitrust Division

  • There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Farm Credit Administration

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council

International Monetary Fund & World Bank

North American Securities Administrators Association

  • There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Trade Associations & Think Tank Events

Trade Associations

Think Tanks and Other Events

Please let us know if you have any questions or would like to be added to our email distribution list.

Francis Kelly
Previous

The Global Week Ahead
Next

Maryland & Virginia Bankers Association Annual Convention