U.S. Financial Regulatory Week Ahead
The World Bank/International Monetary Fund Meets This Week, Watching for the Global Financial Stability Report, the OCC Reorganizes as the CFPB Slashes Remaining Staff, and the FCUA Board Goes to One Member
April 21 - 25, 2025
Although the US Congress remains out of session this week, plenty of regulatory action is happening. The World Bank/International Monetary Fund (WB/IMF) spring meetings are this week. With the meetings comes the publication (Tuesday) of the semi-annual Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR), an assessment of the global financial markets that also identifies potential risks to financial stability. We will be watching to see which market segments are seen as rising risk and how US regulators respond to the report.
Also as part of the WB/IMF week, the G10 and G20, respectively, will be meeting on the sidelines. We will be interested to see what comes out of those meetings in the wake of recent market disruptions caused by the Trump tariff announcements.
Not to be missed amidst all the WB/IMF action this week is acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham's sit-down with Bloomberg on Thursday, during which she will outline the agency's agenda and policy priorities going forward.
Looking at major events last week, bank regulators approved the Capital One acquisition of Discover. That $35 billion deal was announced in February 2024 and has been slowly—very slowly—winding its way through the regulatory review process, all the while facing resistance from some quarters (mostly from Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and other consumer advocates who generally oppose large bank consolidation of any sort).
However, what we found particularly interesting about the approval announcement was a separate announcement by the FDIC and Federal Reserve that they fined Discover $150 million and ordered the company to pay $1.225 billion in restitution for misclassifying consumer credit cards as commercial. We have gotten questions about this from clients, mostly asking if this was a case of the "White Knight" – Capital One – being allowed to buy Discover to help clean up the regulatory mess. Yes, we see it that way, but we also see it as a break from previous regulatory merger deals where regulators did not want a White Knight situation because regulators have seen such efforts actually fail. Meaning that the acquiring company, in the massive project to merge operational and risk systems, actually ends up papering over the problem and not really getting to the root of the problem. All of which means, in our view, we are seeing something of a new approach to financial mergers and acquisition policy by the Trump team – and a likely throwing open of the doors to more financial institution mergers going forward.
Also, this past week, the OCC announced a major reorganization around bank supervision, merging its Midsize and Community Bank Supervision Office with its Large Bank Supervision functions and creating a new Bank Supervision and Examination office. All this even before Comptroller of the Currency nominee Jonathan Gould gets his final Senate confirmation vote, which will likely happen in the coming three weeks. Once Gould is in place, we will watch for a potential OCC merger with the FDIC under the guidance of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Bessent has been holding meetings with Acting Comptroller Rodney Hood and FDIC Acting Chair Jonathan McKernan on how to streamline regulation and possibly merge.
The other big news last week was that Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Russ Vought (who is also the Director of the Office of Management and Budget) was laying off more than 1,400 staffers (out of a total of 1,700 staff). That effort was temporarily blocked by a federal judge who wants to review whether the layoffs would violate a preliminary injunction blocking the agency from shutting down.
Finally, last week saw the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) slimmed down to one sitting board member – Chair Kyle Hauptman – after President Trump fired two Democrat board members, Todd Harper (who was chair during the Biden Administration) and Tanya Otsuka. Both Harper and Otsuka intend to challenge the firings in court, but for now, they are out of the building and will not be voting members.
Clients have asked how the NCUA board functions with only one board member. Interestingly, as Chair Hauptman pointed out in a memo to staff last week, there is precedent for this. During the George W. Bush Administration, then-Chair Dennis Dollar acted as the sole board member, voting on policy issues and administrative actions all by himself.
Below is what else we are watching in the Washington financial regulatory world this coming week:
U.S. Congressional Hearings
U.S. Senate
The Senate is in recess until April 28.
House of Representatives
· The House of Representatives is in recess until April 28.
Federal Department & Regulatory Agency Meetings & Events
Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks
· Tuesday, April 22, 9:00 a.m. – the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting takes place at the IMF in Washington, D.C. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Board Governor Jay Powell will be attending.
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· Tuesday, April 22, 9:00 a.m. – Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair Philip N. Jefferson will give a speech entitled “Economic Mobility and the Dual Mandate” at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Economic Mobility Summit, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
· Tuesday, April 22, 6:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Adriana D. Kugler will give a speech entitled “Transmission of Monetary Policy” at the Heller-Hurwicz Economics Institute 2025 Roundtable with Dr. Adriana Kugler, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
· Wednesday, April 23, 9:35 a.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher J. Waller will give opening remarks at the Fed Listens event hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (Virtual).
U.S. Treasury Department
· Tuesday, April 22, 9:00 a.m. – The G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting takes place at the IMF in Washington, D.C. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Board Governor Jay Powell will be attending.
· Wednesday, April 23, 10:00 a.m. – US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will give remarks and participate in a conversation at the Institute for International Finance conference (virtual).
Department of Commerce
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Department of Housing and Urban Development
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Securities and Exchange Commission
· Tuesday, April 22, 12:35 p.m. – The SEC will host its Incident Response Forum Masterclass 2025.
· Thursday, April 24, 2:00 p.m. – The SEC will host a Closed Meeting.
· Friday, April 25, 1:00 p.m. – The SEC will host its Crypto Task Force Roundtable - Know Your Custodian: Key Considerations for Crypto Custody.
Commodities Futures Trading Commission
· Thursday, April 24, 9:45 a.m. – CFTC Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson will deliver keynote remarks at the Africa Fintech Summit, Washington, D.C., 2025.
· Thursday, April 24, 10:20 a.m. – Acting CFTC Chair Caroline D. Pham will participate on a panel, Balancing Local and Global Priorities in Policymaking (II), at the IIF Future of Global Financial Policymaking Roundtable in Washington, D.C.
· Thursday, April 24, 1:00 p.m. – Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham will discuss new policies and priorities at a Bloomberg roundtable in Washington, D.C.
· Thursday, April 24, 2:00 p.m. – CFTC Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson to participate in AI Evolution and the Future of Governance Roundtable at the Institute for International Finance (IIF) in Washington, D.C.
· Friday, April 25, 12:00 p.m. – CFTC Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger will participate on a panel, Clearing the Way to the Future: How Is Technology Changing Market Paradigms? at the FIA Law & Compliance Division Conference in Oxen Hill, Maryland.
· Friday, April 25, 12:00 p.m. – CFTC Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson to address “Clearing the Way to the Future: How Is Technology Changing Market Paradigms?” at the FIA L&C 2025 in Oxen Hill, Maryland.
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.
FINRA
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Federal Housing Finance Agency
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Federal Trade Commission & Department of Justice Antitrust Division
· Tuesday, April 22, 6:00 p.m. – FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson will be the keynote speaker at the IAPP Global Privacy Summit 2025 in Washington, D.C.
· Wednesday, April 23 – FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson will speak at the Semafor World Economy Summit 2025 in Washington, D.C.
Farm Credit Administration
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Farm Credit Insurance Corporation
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Small Business Administration
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
International Monetary Fund & World Bank
· Monday – Saturday, April 21 – 25 – The Spring Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund will be held in Washington, D.C. The full agenda can be seen HERE.
North American Securities Administrators Association
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Trade Associations & Think Tank Events
Trade Associations
· Monday, April 21, 3:00 p.m. – The Institute for International Finance co-hosts with the World Bank a Digital Trust & Quantum Readiness Roundtable in Washington, D.C.
· Tuesday, April 22, 2:00 p.m. – the Institute for International Finance hosts a Cyber Security Roundtable in Washington, D.C.
· Wednesday, April 23, 10:00 a.m. – US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will give remarks and participate in a conversation at the Institute for International Finance conference (virtual).
· Thursday, April 24, 9:00 a.m. – The Institute for International Finance will host its 2025 IIF Sustainable Finance Roundtable in Washington, D.C.
Think Tanks and Other Events
· Friday, April 25, 10:00 a.m. – European Central Bank Supervisory Board Chair Claudia Buch will speak at the Brookings Institution on “Safeguarding the Stability of the Global Banking System.”