U.S. Financial Regulatory Week Ahead
January 8 - 12, 2024
Welcome back, and we hope you had a wonderful Holiday break! Washington is slowly returning to work (this week has been pretty dead here). But next week, it begins to rev up again, particularly with Congress returning to work on Tuesday, where they once again grapple over unfinished appropriation bills, funding for Ukraine and Israel, and the always contentious issues of border security and immigration.
Looking at financial services issues, we note two Congressional hearings scheduled for next week. The first is a House Financial Services Committee Subcommittee hearing examining the Department of Labor’s proposed Fiduciary Rule (which the securities industry strongly opposes). The second is another Financial Services Subcommittee oversight hearing, this one pointedly looking at the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and the “Regulatory Whiplash” FSOC causes with its “Ever-Changing Designation Framework.”
Also of note is that next week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will give a speech at the FinCEN Headquarters on the newly implemented Beneficial Ownership regulations. The rules continue to attract strong opposition from a number of powerful members of Congress as well as leading small business lobbying groups, and Yellen is ramping up Treasury’s defense of the rules.
Also, this coming week, global antitrust oversight will come into focus in Palo Alto, California, as E.U. Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager and U.K. Competition and Markets Authority CEO Sarah Cardell will both give major addresses. Both are also expected to hold sideline meetings with leading hi-tech CEOs – including the CEOs of Alphabet, Apple, Broadcom, and Nvidia – to discuss ongoing investigations and concerns about U.S. Big Tech operations in Europe. This comes as it appears the US Justice Department is moving closer to filing a massive antitrust case against Apple.
Finally, we would flag what will likely prove to be a fascinating post-mortem discussion of the downfall of Credit Suisse at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Eva Hüpkes, the Secretary General of the International Association of Deposit Insurers and a member of Switzerland’s Expert Group on Banking Stability, will be sharing her insights into what happened.
Below is a listing of issues and events U.S. regulators are engaged in this week, along with relevant think tank and trade association events. Please let us know if you have any questions.
U.S. Congressional Hearings
U.S. Senate
January 10, 10:00 a.m. – The Senate Budget Committee holds a hearing entitled "Investing in the Future: Safeguarding Municipal Bonds from Climate Risk.” Testifying will be Thomas Doe, President and Founder, Municipal Market Analytics, Megan Kilgore, Auditor of the City of Columbus, Ohio, and Dr. Chris Hartshorn, Advisor, Zeus AI.
January 11, 10:00 a.m. – The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing entitled “Stopping the Flow of Fentanyl: Public Awareness and Legislative Solutions.” Witnesses will include Patrick Yoes, National President, Fraternal Order of Police; Christopher J. Urben, Managing Director, Nardello & Co., and Assistant Special Agent in Charge (Retired), Special Operations Division, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. It is expected a key focus of the hearing will be money laundering and how the Fentanyl trade handles money.
House of Representatives
January 10, 10:00 a.m.—The House Financial Services Committee’s Capital Markets Subcommittee Hearing will hold a hearing entitled “Examining the DOL Fiduciary Rule: Implications for Retirement Savings and Access” No witnesses have been announced yet.
January 10, 2:00 p.m. – The House Financial Services Committee’s Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion Subcommittee holds a hearing entitled “Regulatory Whiplash: Examining the Impact of FSOC’s Ever-Changing Designation Framework on Innovation” No witnesses have been announced yet.
January 11, 10:00 a.m. – the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing entitled “Oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the House Federal Housing Administration.” HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge and FHA Director Sandra Thompson are both expected to testify.
US Regulatory Meetings & Events
Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks
There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
U.S. Treasury Department
January 8, 1:30 p.m. – US Treasury Janet L. Yellen to Deliver Remarks at FinCEN on the U.S. Beneficial Ownership Information Registry at the FinCEN Headquarters in Vienna, Virginia.
Securities and Exchange Commission
January 11, 2:00 p.m. – The SEC will hold a closed meeting.
Commodities Futures Trading Commission
January 8, 12:30 p.m. – The CFTC’s Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) will meet. They will receive a briefing from senior White House officials on President Biden’s AI Executive Order, and efforts to enhance cybersecurity and discuss emerging and evolving technologies.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
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
January 11, 10:00 a.m. – The FCA Board of Directors will meet. The agenda includes a review of the Quarterly Report on Economic Conditions, as well as the Farm Credit System Condition and Performance Semiannual Report on Office of Examination Operations.
Trade Associations & Think Tank Events
Trade Associations
January 10 -11: The 2024 D.C. Bar Tax Conference will be held in Washington, D.C., and will feature leading US Congressional tax staff and Treasury officials talking about international and domestic tax policy.
Think Tanks
January 9, 10:00 a.m. – The Brookings Institution holds an event entitled “SECURE 2.0 after one year and the future of retirement policy.”
January 9 – The American Bar Association holds a discussion on legal principles, Department of Justice policy and practice, and recent trends in criminal antitrust enforcement entitled “Introduction to Cartel Enforcement and Defense.”
January 10, 9:00 a.m. – The Peterson Institute for International Economics holds an event to discuss “Lessons from the 2023 Collapse of Credit Suisse.” Eva Hüpkes , the Secretary-General, the International Association of Deposit Insurers and a member of Switzerland’s Expert Group on Banking Stability, will participate.
January 11, 11:00 a.m. – The Heritage Foundation holds an event entitled “Inflation: Today’s Financial Pandemic” in Washington, D.C.
Please let us know if you have any questions or would like to be added to our email distribution list.