U.S. Financial Regulatory Week Ahead
February 19 - 23, 2024
The coming week is short in Washington, with Monday being a federal holiday (Presidents Day). The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are out of session for the week, and federal regulators have a light schedule.
But we will be watching one significant event this coming week: The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) will meet this coming Friday. The preliminary agenda for the executive session includes the Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulatory agenda; recent banking and commercial real estate developments; the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed rule to define larger participants of a market for general-use digital consumer payment applications; the Council’s priorities for 2024; and the Office of Financial Research’s work to collect data on non-centrally cleared bilateral repurchase agreement transactions.
Looking back at events from last week, the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC released their economic scenarios for their 2024 stress testing. Stress testing requires banks to have between $10 billion and $250 billion to undergo the supervisory scenarios.
Also last week, the markets sat up and paid close attention to Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr’s speech at Columbia University School of Law when he addressed the Fed’s focus on commercial real estate risk. Barr said the Fed is “closely focused” on how commercial real estate risk is being managed by banks. Coming nearly one year after Silicon Valley Bank failed due to unrealized real estate losses, Barr’s comments suggested what many have expected: likely downgrades of confidential bank health ratings and Fed disciplinary actions.
Speaking of the FDIC, the Special Committee of the FDIC’s Board of Directors overseeing an independent third-party review of the agency’s workplace culture issued an interesting statement on Thursday. Reminding readers of the investigation and that the law firm of Cleary Gottlieb was managing the independent review, the statement said, “...more than 350 people have contacted” Cleary Gottlieb. Our view is that even a fraction of that number of serious complaints will not be good for FDIC Chair Marty Gruenberg or the agency overall.
Below are all the significant public events we are looking at in the coming week:
U.S. Congressional Hearings
U.S. Senate
The Senate is out of session this week.
House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is out of session this week.
US Regulatory Meetings & Events
Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks
February 21, 12:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle Bowman speaks at the Exchequer Club of Washington, D.C.
February 22, 10:45 a.m. – Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Philip Jefferson gives remarks at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
February 22, 5:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook gives a speech entitled “Sources of Uncertainty in the Short Run and the Long Run” at the Annual Conference of the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy & Finance (JRCPPF) – Empirical Macrofinance in the Long Run: New Insights on the Global Economy, Princeton, N.J.
February 22, 7:35 p.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher J. Waller gives a speech entitled “Economic Outlook” at the Notre Dame Club of Minnesota and University of St. Thomas Finding Forward Speaker Series, Minneapolis, Minn.
U.S. Treasury Department
February 16 – 22: Treasury Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson will travel to Europe to coordinate with European allies on further efforts to deny Russia the resources it needs to prosecute its unjust war. He will visit Munich, Germany; Brussels, Belgium; and Paris, France.
February 23: The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) will meet. The preliminary agenda for the executive session includes the Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulatory agenda; recent banking and commercial real estate developments; the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed rule to define larger participants of a market for general-use digital consumer payment applications; the Council’s priorities for 2024; and the Office of Financial Research’s work to collect data on non-centrally cleared bilateral repurchase agreement transactions.
Securities and Exchange Commission
There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Commodities Futures Trading Commission
February 20, 4:30 a.m. EST/10:30 a.m. GMT+1 – CFTC Commissioner Caroline D. Pham will speak at a roundtable of the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union on AI in financial services in Brussels, Belgium.
February 20, 7:00 a.m. EST/1:00 p.m. GMT+1 – CFTC Commissioner Caroline D. Pham will participate by video in a Hogan Lovells panel discussion on “Regulatory Challenges in Artificial Intelligence in Financial Services.” Her remarks will be virtual to the event, which is being held in Rome.
February 20, 11:00 a.m. EST/5:00 p.m. GMT+1 – CFTC Commissioner Caroline D. Pham will speak on a panel: “Can we build a globally harmonized regime? An international perspective” at the European Parliament and the Global Blockchain Business Council seminar: “The Future of the Digital Finance Strategy of the EU: A Global Perspective” in Brussels, Belgium.
February 23, 12:30 p.m. – CFTC Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson will deliver the keynote address at the New York City Bar Emerging Technologies Symposium in New York.
FINRA
There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
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
· February 20, 11:30 a.m. – The Federal Trade Commission holds a Closed Commission meeting.
Farm Credit Administration
There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation
There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Import/Export Bank
February 22, 2:00 p.m. – The Ex-Im Bank holds a virtual meeting of the EXIM Advisory Committee to discuss EXIM policies and programs to provide competitive financing to expand United States exports and comments for inclusion in EXIM's Report to the U.S. Congress on Global Export Credit Competition.
World Bank
There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Trade Associations & Think Tank Events
Trade Association Events/Public Events
February 20, 11:00 a.m. – The Institute for International Finance holds an online seminar entitled “Prospects for Monetary Policy in Colombia (in Spanish)”
February 22-24 – The National Governors Association holds its 2024 Winter Meeting. The issues being discussed include infrastructure investment, economic growth, workforce development, and healthcare solutions.
February 21, 9:30 a.m. – The Institute for International Finance holds an online seminar entitled “IIF Global Debt Monitor: Politics, Policy and Debt Markets – What to Watch in 2024”
February 21, 12:00 p.m. – The Exchequer Club hosts Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle Bowman, who will give a lunchtime speech in Washington, D.C.
February 21-23 – The American Bankers Association hosts their annual Wealth Management and Trust Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.
February 21, 2:00 p.m. CT – The Investment Company Institute (ICI) holds a webinar entitled “The Asset Management Industry: An Introduction to Career Opportunities.”
February 22 – SIFMA holds a Social Media & Digital Marketing Seminar in San Francisco, California.
Think Tank Events
February 20, 11:00 a.m. – The Bipartisan Policy Center holds an event entitled “Fireside Chat with Governor Greg Gianforte (R-Montana)” to discuss ways to improve housing affordability in Washington, D.C.
February 21, 9:00 a.m. – Peterson Institute for International Economics hosts an online event entitled “How Banking Prudential Policy Can Respond to Climate Change” with Martien Lubberink, Associate Professor, School of Accounting and Commercial Law, Victoria University of Wellington and Sylvie Matherat, Global Senior Advisor, Mazars; Non-Executive Director, Crédit Commercial de France; International Advisory Board Member, Edmond de Rothschild.
February 22, 9:00 a.m. – the American Enterprise Institute holds a conference entitled “The Workforce/Middle-Income Housing Tax Credit” in Washington, D.C.
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