U.S. Financial Regulatory Week Ahead

Moving to Full Throttle: Washington Ramps Up On Multiple Regulatory Fronts This Week

September 9 - 13, 2024

Congress returns to work this week, having been out of session since the end of July. The rest of Washington’s regulatory world is already buzzing with activity, and combined, there is a lot going on.

In the coming week, we will closely watch the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions hearing entitled “Transparency in Global Governance.”  The hearing is aimed at how the Basel Committee, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), and other international organizations interact with US financial regulators and their influence on regulatory developments.  The only problem is that these organizations are refusing to appear, infuriating Subcommittee Chair Representative Andy Barr (R-KY).   At this point, we are not sure who will testify, and no one is listed on the Committee’s website.

Also on the Hill this week, the House Agriculture Committee is scheduling a closed-door hearing for members to get briefed and up-to-speed on “event contracts.”   For those of you unfamiliar with event contracts, they are the ability for financial traders to put “contract” wagers on, well, everything.  As Politico noted, it can be things as weird as what a movie’s Rotten Tomato scores will be. 

Also this week, Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr will speak at the Brookings Institution on the status of the Fed's Basel III regulatory initiative. Considering the proposal has come under withering criticism from banks and Congress (not to mention public doubts from Fed Chair Jay Powell and several Fed Governors) and has been intensely rewritten, Barr’s comments will be important.   

SEC Chair Gary Gensler will give a speech and participate in a fireside chat at a Peterson Institute for International Economics event. The topics of the discussion seem likely to be wide-ranging.

Last week ended up being a bit busier than anyone expected.  We would note that Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu gave an important speech at the Joint European Banking Authority and European Central Bank International Conference in Frankfurt, Germany (which was not added to his public calendar until the very last minute).  In his remarks, Hsu said regulators should consider creating a process for officially designating which banks within the domestic financial system are important – DSIBs.  Hsu pointed out some other countries already do this and suggested the US follow suit. 

Also, last week, a Federal Court blocked the CFTC’s rejection of US election betting markets – talk about good timing for all you election junkies out there!

Below is what else is happening in the regulatory world in Washington this week: 

U.S. Congressional Hearings 

U.S. Senate

·       The Senate is out of session for the month of August and returns to work on September 9.

House of Representatives

·       TBD – The House Agriculture Committee will hold a closed-door briefing for members on the topic of event contracts (which are financial products allowing traders to wager on virtually anything).  No date or time has been released yet.

·       Tuesday, September 10, 10:00 a.m. – The House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion will hold a hearing entitled “Decoding DeFi: Breaking Down the Future of Decentralized Finance.”

·       Tuesday, September 10, 10:30 a.m. – The House Education and Workforce Committee holds a hearing entitled “ERISA’s 50th Anniversary: The Value of Employer-Sponsored Health Benefits”

·       Tuesday, September 10, 2:00 p.m. – The House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations holds a hearing entitled “The Fall of ESG: Scrutinizing the Failed Use of Environmental, Social, & Governance Standards and the Influence of Proxy Advisors.”

·       Wednesday, September 11, 10:00 a.m. – The House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy Subcommittee holds a hearing entitled “Transparency in Global Governance”

·       Wednesday, September 11, 10:00 a.m. – The House Agriculture Committee holds a hearing entitled “Severe Food Distribution Shortages in Tribal and Elderly Communities.”  

US Regulatory Meetings & Events

Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks

·       Tuesday, September 10, 11:00 a.m. – Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr will speak at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. at an event entitled “The Basel III Endgame: A Conversation with Michael Barr.”

U.S. Treasury Department

·       Monday, September 9, 1:00 p.m. – The Treasury Department holds a meeting of the Treasury Advisory Committee on Racial Equity for opening remarks from TACRE Chair Michael Nutter, an overview of the work conducted by the TACRE subcommittees since the April 18, 2024, TACRE meeting, a possible vote on recommendations to make to the Treasury Department and briefings from government officials from the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service.

Department of Commerce

·       There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Securities and Exchange Commission

·       Monday, September 9, 10:00 a.m. – The SEC holds an Open Meeting to consider he Commission will consider whether to approve a new quality control standard, QC 1000, A Firm’s System of Quality Control, and related amendments, as adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

·       Tuesday, September 10, 9:30 a.m. – SEC Chair Gary Gensler will give remarks at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.  Following his speech, he will participate in a fireside chat with Roger Ferguson, former Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve.

·       Thursday, September 12, 2:00 p.m. – The SEC holds a Closed Meeting.

Commodities Futures Trading Commission

·       There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

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

·       Monday, September 9, 12:30 p.m. – CFPB Director Rohit Chopra speaks at an event hosted by Intercontinental Exchange and the National Housing Conference.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency

·       Tuesday, September 10 – 11 – The FHFA holds a meeting of the Federal Advisory Committee on Affordable, Equitable, and Sustainable Housing to advise FHFA in the exercise of its oversight functions regarding affordable, equitable, and sustainable housing, including but not limited to, affordable, equitable, and sustainable housing needs, barriers to access, barriers to long-term sustainability, and any regulatory, guidance, or policy changes that may be necessary or beneficial to expand such housing.

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

·       Thursday, September 12, 10:00 a.m. – The FCA holds a meeting of the quarterly report on economic conditions and Farm Credit System condition and performance.

International Monetary Fund & World Bank

·       There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

North American Securities Administrators Association

·       There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Trade Associations & Think Tank Events 

Trade Associations

·       Thursday, September 12: The American Bankers Association will hold a virtual conference entitled “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summit.”

Think Tanks and Other Events

·       Monday, September 9, 9:00 a.m. – The Peterson Institute for International Economics holds an event entitled “Do EU regulations unduly penalize securitization?” Emmanuelle Assouan, Director General for Financial Stability and Operations, Bank of France, will speak.

·       Tuesday, September 9, 1:00 p.m. – The Farm Foundation holds a discussion on "The Agricultural Platforms of the Candidates for President of the United States."

·       Tuesday, September 10, 9:30 a.m.  – The Peterson Institute for International Economics hosts SEC Chair Gary Gensler for a speech and fireside chat.

·       Thursday, September 12, 9:00 a.m. – The Institute for International Finance holds an online event entitled “Policy Implications of the 2024 U.S. Elections: Fiscal and Growth Outlooks.”

·       Tuesday, September 10, 11:00 a.m. – Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr will speak at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. at an event entitled “The Basel III Endgame: A Conversation with Michael Barr.”

·       Thursday, September 12, 9:30 a.m. – The Cato Institute holds a conference entitled “Financial Privacy Under Fire: Protecting and Restoring Americans’ Rights’ in Washington, D.C.

·       Thursday, September 12, 10:00 a.m. – The Brookings Institution holds a discussion on "The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017: Lessons learned and the debate ahead.”

·       Thursday, September 12, 2:00 p.m. – The Bipartisan Policy holds a Leaders Speaker Series with former Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria.

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

U.S. Regulatory Week Ahead

August 12 - 16, 2024

Giving You Back Your Five Minutes…

We want to give you back the five minutes you would normally spend reading the U.S. Financial Regulatory Week Ahead by saying right up front: There is nothing going on, and thus, there is nothing to read in this week’s report. Washington regulators are all out on vacation.

We Hope you are enjoying this quiet time, too.  But, just for the record,  below is a listing of the one event we could find scheduled – an SEC Closed Meeting on Thursday – taking place this coming week in Washington:

U.S. Congressional Hearings

U.S. Senate

·       The Senate is out of session for the month of August and returns to work on September 9.

House of Representatives

·       The House is out of session for the month of August and returns to work on September 9.

US Regulatory Meetings & Events 

Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks

·       There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

U.S. Treasury Department

·       There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Department of Commerce

·       There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Securities and Exchange Commission

·       Thursday, August 15, 2:00 p.m. – The SEC holds a Closed Meeting.

Commodities Futures Trading Commission

·       There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

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

·        There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Farm Credit Administration

·       There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

International Monetary Fund & World Bank

·       There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

North American Securities Administrators Association

·       There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Trade Associations & Think Tank Events

Trade Associations

·       There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Think Tanks and Other Events

·       There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

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

U.S. Financial Regulatory Week

May 20 - 24, 2024

This coming Monday is Memorial Day, the traditional beginning of Summer in Washington and the rest of the US. In advance of the three-day holiday, regulators are engaging in several meetings and speaking events. Of particular note, Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr is giving two important speeches this week on regulation while the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank is holding its 28th Annual Financial Markets Conference.  

Also this week, the Investment Company Institute is holding its annual meeting in Washington, and SEC Chair Gary Gensler will speak and participate in a fireside chat to discuss issues of concern to the mutual fund industry. 

Washington is still talking about the ongoing crisis at the FDIC in the wake of the independent report implicating FDIC Chair Marty Gruenberg for bullying and inappropriate behavior and tolerating bad behavior among senior managers. Gruenberg endured two grueling hearings before the House Financial Services Committee and Senate Banking Committee last week but seems to have survived as a number of Congressional Democrats came to his defense. Gruenberg continues to refuse to step down, but we believe the pressure will continue, and the situation will remain tense at the FDIC.

Also last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had a big week, triumphantly winning a Supreme Court case (7-2 vote) upholding the agency's legitimacy and ability to bring regulations against payday lenders. This ends years of uncertainty about the future of the CFPB and has boosted CFPB Director Rohit Chopra's agenda, which focuses on credit card fees. "The CFPB will be able to forge ahead with our law enforcement work," Chopra told reporters after the decision was handed down.

Reviewing Congress last week, the House Financial Services Committee moved several pieces of legislation for the full House of Representatives to vote on in the coming weeks. One is legislation making fewer banks subject to key regulations such as the Volcker Rule while scrutinizing the Federal Reserve's bank merger, stress testing, and discount processes. Another bill they passed would direct the SEC to conduct cost-benefit analyses of its rules and review them every five years.

Both bills have little chance of advancing once they pass the House and are sent to the Senate Banking Committee.

Below is a listing of all the other significant regulatory-related events this coming week:

U.S. Congressional Hearings 

U.S. Senate

·       Tuesday, May 21, 10:00 a.m. – The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing entitled “Child Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Advantaged Accounts Benefitting American Children.”

·       Wednesday, May 22, 2:30 p.m. – The Senate Banking Committee’s Economic Policy Subcommittee holds a hearing on "Protecting Consumers' Pocketbooks: Lowering Food Prices and Combatting Corporate Price Gouging and Consolidation."

House of Representatives

·       Wednesday, May 22, 10:00 a.m. – The House Financial Services Housing and Insurance Subcommittee holds a hearing on "PHA (Public Housing Agencies) Oversight: How Scandals and Mismanagement Harm Residents and Taxpayers."

US Regulatory Meetings & Events

Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks

·       Sunday – Wednesday, May 19 – 22 – The Atlanta Federal Reserve holds its 28th Annual Financial Markets Conference.  A number of central bankers, market participants, and other experts will be speaking.

·       Monday, May 20, 7:45 a.m. – Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic to give welcome remarks before the 2024 Financial Markets Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.  Later that day, at 6:00 p.m., he will moderate a session at the Conference’s dinner.

·       Monday, May 20, 9:00 a.m. – The Peterson Institute for International Economics hosts a virtual discussion entitled "The U.S. economy and monetary policy” with Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller.  

·       Monday, May 20, 10:30 a.m. – Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip N. Jefferson gives a speech entitled “U.S. Economic Outlook and Housing Price Dynamics” at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Secondary and Capital Markets Conference, New York, N.Y.

·       Tuesday, May 21, 8:00 a.m. – Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Barkin to give opening remarks before the"2024 Investing in Rural America Conference: Building and Maintaining Momentum" hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

·       Tuesday, May 21, 8:10 a.m.: Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic will give "welcome back" remarks before the 2024 Financial Markets Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

·       Tuesday, May 21, 8:45 a.m.: New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will give the opening remarks at the 2024 Governance and Culture Reform Conference.

·       Tuesday, May 21, 9:00 a.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher J. Waller gives welcoming remarks at the Third Conference on the International Roles of the U.S. Dollar, Washington, D.C.

·       Tuesday, May 21, 6:00 p.m. – Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic to moderate the "Central Banking in the Post-Pandemic Financial System" panel before the 2024 Financial Markets Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

·       Monday, May 20, 9:00 a.m. – Federal Vice Chair for Supervision Michael S. Barr entitled “Monetary Policy and Bank Regulation” at the 2024 Financial Markets Conference, Fernandina Beach, Florida.

·       Thursday, May 23, 2:00 p.m. – Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic to participate in a virtual question-and-answer session with students in MBA macroeconomic class at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

·       Friday, May 24, 9:35 a.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher J. Waller gives a speech at the Reykjavik Economic Conference, Reykjavik, Iceland.

U.S. Treasury Department

·       There are no significant events scheduled at this time. 

Securities and Exchange Commission

·       Wednesday, May 23, 8:30 a.m. – SEC Chair Gary Gensler will participate in a fireside chat at the Investment Company Institute’s 2024 Leadership Summit in Washington, DC.

·       Thursday, May 24, 11:00 a.m. – Thursday at 11:00 a.m., SEC Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal and other division officials will speak at the Securities Enforcement Forum West 2024 conference.

Commodities Futures Trading Commission

·       Monday, May 20, 11:00 a.m. London Time – CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero will speak on a panel discussing international financial regulation at City Week 2024.

·       Tuesday, May 21, 11:00 a.m. London Time – CFTC Commissioner Caroline D. Pham will speak at a featured fireside chat on the CFTC’s role in regulating digital assets at City Week 2024.

·       Wednesday, May 22, 9:10 a.m. London Time – CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero will participate in a keynote interview at the Financial Times’ Moral Money Summit.

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

·       Wednesday, May 22, 10:00 a.m. – the NCUA Board holds an open meeting.  You can find the agenda HERE.

Federal Trade Commission & Department of Justice Antitrust Division

·       Monday, May 20, 1:00 p.m. – The FTC holds a closed meeting.

·       Wednesday, May 23, 1:00 p.m. – The FTC holds an Open Meeting.

·       Wednesday, May 23, 2:00 p.m. – The FTC holds an event entitled “Supporting Older Adults to Fight Against Fraud”

Farm Credit Administration

·       There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

International Monetary Fund & World Bank

·       There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

North American Securities Administrators Association

·       There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Trade Associations & Think Tank Events

Trade Associations

·       Tuesday  – Wednesday, May 21 – 23 – The Investment Company Institute holds the 2024 Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C.  House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and SEC Chair Gary Gensler will speak.

Think Tanks and Other Events

·       Tuesday, May 21, 9:00 a.m. – The Peterson Institute for International Economics holds a virtual discussion, beginning at 9 a.m., on "The U.S. economy and monetary policy” with Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller.  

·       Tuesday, May 21, 10:00 a.m. – The Brookings Institution holds a discussion entitled “Powering US prosperity and competitiveness through place-based investment”.  Alejandra Castillo, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, will speak.

·       Tuesday, May 21, 12:30 p.m. – SIFMA holds a Department of Labor Fiduciary Rule Implementation Workshop.

·       Tuesday, May 21, 2:30 p.m. – The R Street Institute holds a discussion entitled “Insurance Fraud: the 300 Billion Dollar Crime.”

·       Tuesday, May 21, 3:00 p.m. – The Cato Institute holds a virtual discussion entitled “Would Proposed Antitrust Changes Help or Harm Startups and Small Business?”

·       Tuesday, May 22, 11:00 a.m. – SIFMA holds their latest webinar on U.S. – China relations entitled “U.S. – China Relations: Technology National Security, and Financial Services.”

·       Wednesday, May 22, 8:00 a.m. – The Institute for International Finance holds an online discussion entitled “IIF Datatalk: Bigtech, Platforms, and Financial Services.”

·       Wednesday, May 22, 1:00 p.m. – The American Enterprise Institute holds an in-person/virtual event entitled “The Federal Reserve and Financial Stability Risk.”  

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

U.S. Regulatory Week Ahead

April 29 - May 4, 2024

The regulatory week ahead is poised to bring two pivotal events that will directly influence the pending CapitalOne – Discover merger.

The first event, a hearing by the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, is aptly titled “Merger Policies of the Federal Banking Agencies.” This hearing holds significant implications for the future of financial mergers. 

 Amidst the buzz among financial lobbyists and regulatory circles, the stance of key figures like Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, FDIC Chair Marty Gruenberg, CFPB Direct Rohit Chopra, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, and the new entrant Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, is being closely watched. Their potential opposition to significant-sized financial mergers, including the CapitalOne-Discover merger, makes the upcoming hearing even more intriguing.

The second (albeit lesser) event will be Tuesday at the Independent Community Bank Association annual conference, Capital Summit 2024. FDIC Chair Gruenberg and CFPB Director Chopra will jointly participate in a Fireside Chat to discuss the state of banking.

This comes on the heels of regulators announcing they were extending the public comment period for the CapitalOne-Discover deal another month (from April 26 to May 31). Progressive Democrats on Capitol Hill, along with many community organizations, are ramping up their opposition to the deal, and being given an extra month to make their case is not good news for either company.

Last week, there were three particularly big actions in the regulatory world worth noting: one that successfully made it through (although we think that is going to be temporary) and the other that failed. 

First, a divided Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted to ban noncompete agreements. That action – long expected – ignited several almost immediate federal lawsuits seeking to block the FTC action (making the point that the FTC lacks the statutory authority to make and enforce such a regulation. Our money is on the lawsuits winning this one and quickly).

The second event was the Department of Labor finalizing the rule on retirement savings protections. This proposal has had a long tenure, first emerging during the Obama Administration. After being struck down by federal courts, the SEC passed Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) in 2019. However, the Labor Department and advocates argued that Reg BI left too many gaps and pushed through the current iteration. Expect several federal lawsuits soon challenging this new rule.

The third event was a rather odd, almost last-minute move by FDIC Chair Gruenberg aimed at large asset managers. At the last possible legal moment, Gruenberg called a board meeting last Monday for a board meeting on Thursday to take up possible measures to deal with the size and scope of asset managers who have large stakes in large banks. FDIC Board member and CFPB Director Chopra had offered a rule that would have given the FDIC broad authority to investigate asset management firms’ investments in big banks. Countering his proposal was FDIC Director Jonathan McKernan’s proposal to do some “basic” monitoring of a few large index funds that have large stakes in big banks. The Investment Company Institute and several large mutual funds lobbied furiously against the Chopra measure and, to the surprise of many, FDIC Director and Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu opposed the Chopra measure.

McKernan then took down his proposal and, to make a long dramatic event short, nothing happened.  

But that does not mean regulators are done looking at the largest mutual funds and their holdings in big banks.  We recommend watching this space closely and reading Capital Account, edited by our friend Rob Schmidt, for the most detailed and best reporting on this (and every financial regulatory event going on).  It is well worth the subscription.

Below is a listing of all the other significant regulatory-related events this coming week:

U.S. Congressional Hearings

U.S. Senate

• Thursday, May 2, 10:00 a.m.: the Senate Banking Committee holds a hearing entitled “Higher Prices; How Shrinkflation and Technology Impact Consumers’ Finances.”

House of Representatives

• Tuesday, April 30, 2:00 p.m.: The House Oversight and Accountability Health Care and Financial Services Subcommittee holds a hearing on "Health of the Commercial Real Estate Markets and Removing Regulatory Hurdles to Ensure Continued Strength."

• Wednesday, May 1, 10:00 a.m.: The House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing entitled “Merger Policies of the Federal Banking Agencies.”

US Regulatory Meetings & Events

Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks

• Tuesday & Wednesday, April 30 – May 1: The Federal Reserve Board’s Open Market Committee meets to discuss interest rates and the economy.  Fed Chair Jay Powell holds a press conference on May 1 at 2:00 p.m.

• ·Saturday, May 4, 9:20 a.m. and 2:20 p.m.:  Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook gives two commencement speeches at Georgia College and State University (GCSU) in Milledgeville, Georgia.  

U.S. Treasury Department

• April 30, 9:00 a.m.: The Treasury Department’s Borrowing Advisory Committee holds a meeting to discuss the economy, financial markets, Treasury financing, and debt management and for a written report from the committee of its recommendations.

Securities and Exchange Commission

• Thursday, May 2, 1:30 p.m. – The SEC holds a Closed Meeting.

Commodities Futures Trading Commission

• Monday, April 29, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (UK time): CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero will participate virtually in an MSCI Sustainability Institute roundtable event on derivatives and climate in London.

• Thursday, May 2, 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.: Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero, sponsor of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Technology Advisory Committee (TAC), will host an “AI Day during a TAC meeting. The public is invited to come in person or watch the meeting via live webcast at CFTC.gov.  The scheduled speakers include Dr. Nicol Turner Lee, Director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution; Todd Smith, Director of Centralized Data Science and Analytics at the National Futures Association; Francesca Rossi, AI Ethics Global Leader, IBM; Todd Conklin, Chief AI Officer and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Cyber at the U.S. Treasury Department, Sunayna Tuteja, Chief Innovation Officer of the Federal Reserve Board, and Kirsten Wegner, Chief Executive Officer of Modern Markets Initiative.

• Friday, May 3, 10:45 a.m.: CFTC Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson will give remarks and participate in a fireside chat at the 2024 Fintech and Blockchain Symposium, Co-Hosted by Rutgers Law School’s Center for Blockchain and Fintech and Sidley Austin LLP in New York.

FINRA

• There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

• April 29, Monday, 3:25 p.m.: FDIC Chair Marty Gruenberg and CFPB Director Rohit Chopra will participate in a Fireside Chat with Independent Community Bankers Association President Rebecca Romero Rainey at the ICBA’s Capital Summit 2024 in Washington, DC.

• May 2, 9:00 a.m.: The FDIC Advisory Committee on Community Banking to provide advice and recommendations on a broad range of policy issues that have particular impact on small community banks throughout the United States and the local communities they serve.

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

• There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

• April 29, Monday, 3:25 p.m.: FDIC Chair Marty Gruenberg and CFPB Director Rohit Chopra will participate in a Fireside Chat with Independent Community Bankers Association President Rebecca Romero Rainey at the ICBA’s Capital Summit 2024 in Washington, DC.

• April 30, 1:00 p.m.: The CFPB holds a meeting by teleconference of the Community Bank Advisory Council to discuss broad policy matters related to the Bureau's Unified Regulatory Agenda and general scope of authority.

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

• There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

International Monetary Fund & World Bank

• There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Trade Associations & Think Tank Events

Trade Associations

• April 28 – May 1, Sunday—Wednesday: The Independent Community Bankers of America will hold their Capital Summit 2024 in Washington, D.C.  Several members of Congress and regulators, including FDIC Chair Marty Gruenberg and CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, as well as all the Federal Home Loan Bank Board presidents, will speak.

• May 1, Thursday, 8:30 – 10:00 a.m.: The Institute for International Finance, in conjunction with PWC, will hold a hybrid Roundtable entitled “Liquidity Lessons Learned from the 2023 Banking Turmoil”  in New York and online.

• May 1, Thursday, 11:00 a.m.: SIFMA holds an event entitled “U.S.-China Relations: Outlook for Financial Services.” This is the first of a four-part series and will be conducted under Chatham House Rules.

Think Tanks and Other Events

• April 30,  Tuesday, 9:00 a.m.: The Peterson Institute for International Economics holds an event entitled “The International Sustainability Standards Board’s First Two Years.”  Sue Lloyd 
  Vice-Chair, International Sustainability Standards Board and Sylvie Goulard 
  Professor of Practice in Global Affairs and Geopolitics, SDA Bocconi School of Management, will speak.

• April 30, Tuesday, 4:00 p.m.: The Cato Institute holds a book discussion on "Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing Regulation."

• May 1, Thursday, 2:30 p.m.:  The Brookings Institution holds an event entitled “Putting public assets to work through innovative finance.”  They will discuss how the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Build America Bureau recently announced an unprecedented grant opportunity: the Innovative Finance and Asset Concession Program. The program makes available $100 million in grants over five years to public entities doing pre-development work to structure public-private partnerships and other innovative finance and delivery mechanisms for transportation and transit-oriented development projects. The grant provides up to $1 million in funding with no local match requirement and an additional $1 million in funding with a match. Eligible applicants are public entities that own, control, or maintain assets that could be enhanced through projects eligible for Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) credit assistance.

U.S. Financial Regulatory Week Ahead

April 8 - 12, 2024

Congress—and much of the rest of Washington—returns to work this week after recess and spring break holidays.  And it is going to be a busy week.  For the broader market, we recommend paying attention to the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Antitrust Division co-hosting the 3rd Annual Enforcers Summit. 

To further define and advance the Biden Administration's policy approach to competition policy across the board – antitrust to securities enforcement – FTC Chair Lina Kahn and Justice Department Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter will speak to their efforts to unify efforts with other major regulators of every sector.  To best illustrate this effort, SEC Chair Gary Gensler will join them in discussing this coordinated effort.  The implications for bank mergers and other financial services deals are enormous as the FTC and DoJ are now taking highly active roles in reviewing deals.

Meanwhile, we will watch two events closely as they are aimed at the Federal Reserve Board's recent capital increase proposal: The Federalist Society will hold a panel discussion entitled "Navigating the Capital Adequacy Rule: Legal and Policy Perspectives" in Washington, D.C.  The panelists will include former Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Randy Quarles, former Secretary of Labor and Gibson Dunn Partner Eugene Scalia, Peter Conti-Brown, Professor of Financial Regulation, Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and Trent McCotter, Partner, Boyden Gray PLLC.  Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle Bowman will speak on the Basel capital requirements in the face of stiff resistance to the Fed's recent capital requirement proposal (which she, too, opposes). 

Also this week, FDIC Chair Marty Gruenberg will present a comprehensive update on how the FDIC has prepared for the orderly resolution of a GSIB under Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act at the Peterson Institute.  With the one-year anniversary last month of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and ongoing concerns about the effectiveness of the liquidation process of both domestic and international banks, it is going to be a timely speech.

Below is a listing of all the other major regulatory related events this coming week:

U.S. Congressional Hearings

U.S. Senate

• Tuesday, April 9, 10:00 a.m. – The Senate Banking Committee holds a hearing to receive an update from the Treasury Department on Countering Illicit Finance, Terrorism, and Sanctions Evasion.  Deputy Secretary of Treasury Adewale Adeyemo will testify.

• Tuesday, April 9, 10:00 a.m. – The Senate Budget Committee will hold a hearing entitled “Sunny Places for Shady People: Offshore Tax Evasion by the Wealthy and Corporations."

• Wednesday, April 10, 2:30 p.m. – The Senate Banking Committee’s Economic Policy Subcommittee will hold a hearing entitled “MOHELA’s Performance as a Student Loan Servicer.”

House of Representatives

• Wednesday, April 10, 10:00 a.m. – The House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing entitled “Beyond Scope: How the SEC’s Climate Rule Threatens American Markets.”

US Regulatory Meetings & Events

Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks

• Wednesday, April 10, 8:45 a.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle W. Bowman will participate in a virtual discussion entitled “Basel Capital Requirements” at the European Bank Executive Forum.

• Thursday, April 11: The Urban Financial Services Coalition holds its 50th anniversary in Kansas City and hosted by the Reserve Bank of Kansas City.  Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic will participate in a moderated panel entitled “Leadership in Financial Services.”

U.S. Treasury Department

• Monday, April 8, 12:00 a.m. Beijing time – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen will hold a news conference on the U.S. and China bilateral economic relationship.

• Thursday, April 11, 1:00 p.m. – U.S. Undersecretary of Treasury for International Affairs Jay Shambaugh will speak at the Peterson Institute on “The US Vision for Global Debt and Development Finance.”

• Thursday, April 11, 1:30 p.m. – The Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund holds a meeting of the Community Development Advisory Board to provide advice to the director of the Community Development Financial Institutions fund on the policies regarding the activities of the CDFI fund.

Securities and Exchange Commission

• Monday, April 8, 9:45 a.m. – SEC Chair Gary Gensler will participate in the “Whole of Government Approach to Competition Policy” panel as part of the third annual Enforcers Summit hosted by the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. A webcast of the panel will be available. You can find HERE.

• Thursday, April 11, 2:00 p.m. – The SEC will hold a Closed Meeting.

Commodities Futures Trading Commission 

• Tuesday, April 9, 2:30 p.m. Hong Kong - Commissioner Caroline D. Pham will speak on a panel titled “The New World of Digital Assets” at HSBC’s Global Investment Summit, the Conrad Hotel Hong Kong.

• Wednesday, April 10, 12:00 p.m. CDT – The CFTC’s Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee will meet in Kansas City at the University of Missouri – Kansas City.  The EEMAC will continue its discussion on the federal prudential financial regulators’ proposed rules implementing Basel III and the implications for and impact on the derivatives market. There will also be presentations and discussions on the state of crude oil markets and the future of power markets. Finally, the two EEMAC subcommittees will offer updates on their continued work related to traditional energy infrastructure and metals markets. 

• Wednesday, April 10, 9:00 a.m. ET – CFTC Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson will deliver the opening keynote at AI Civil Rights and Human Rights: Visioning the Future of Rights in AI Governance, an AI Civil and Human Rights Policy Roundtable and Book Workshop, in dialogue with Professor Catherine Powell, Senior Advisor at the White House Gender Policy Council. The discussion will be moderated by Charlton McIlwain, NYU Vice Provost for Faculty Development, Pathways & Public Interest Technology. The event is hosted by NYU’s Center for Critical Race & Digital Studies, the NYU Alliance for Public Interest Technology, New America’s Public Interest Technology University Network, and the Digital Democracy Lab at William & Mary Law School.

• Wednesday, April 10, 4:30 p.m. ET – CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero will speak at the Institute for Business in Global Society on Tackling the Challenges of Responsible AI at Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.

• Wednesday, April 10, 5:00 p.m. CT/6:00 p.m. ET – CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam will participate in a lecture at the University of Chicago Law School in Chicago, Illinois.

• Thursday, April 11, 9:30 a.m. CDT – The CFTC’s Agricultural Advisory Committee will meet in Overland Park, Kansas.

• Thursday & Friday, April 11-12 – The CFTC and the Center for Risk Management Education and Research at Kansas State University will host the 3rd Agricultural Commodity Futures Conference (AgCon2024).  The Conference will be held at the Sheraton Overland Park Hotel in Overland, Kansas.

FINRA

• There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

• Wednesday, April 10, 10:00 a.m. – FDIC Chair Marty Gruenberg will present a comprehensive update of how the FDIC has prepared for the orderly resolution of a GSIB under Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act.

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

• Monday, April 8, 9:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. ET – The Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division will cohost a Spring Enforcers Summit for international and state competition enforcement officials in Washington, D.C.   The event will begin with Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter and FTC Chair Lina Kahn speaking about the 2021 Whole of Government Executive Order.    They will then turn to two panels focusing on Whole of government Approach to Competition Policy and “From Farmer to Grocer: Concerns in the Food Supply Chain.”

Farm Credit Administration

• Thursday, April 11, 10:00 a.m. – The FCA Board of Directors will meet in both open and closed session.  In closed session, the board will receive the Quarterly Report on Economic Conditions and Farm Credit System Conditions and Performance.

International Monetary Fund & World Bank 

• Thursday, April 11, 9:00 a.m. – IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva will give an address on the state of the global economy at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C.

Trade Associations & Think Tank Events

Trade Associations

• Tuesday, April 9, 8:00 a.m. - The Bitcoin Policy Summit will be held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

• Tuesday, April 9, 10:00 a.m. – The Institute for International Finance will hold (in Spanish) an online briefing entitled “U.S. Election Implications for Latin America.”

• Tuesday, April 9, 1:30 p.m. – The Institute for International Finance launches Chapter 3 of the International Monetary Fund’s April 2024 Global Financial Stability Report.  The event will be online and in person in Washington, D.C.

• Wednesday, April 10 – The Security Traders Association holds its 2024 Washington Spring Conference.   A number of members of Congress as well as senior SEC Staff will speak.

• Thursday, April 11, 8:00 a.m. ET – The Institute for International Finance hosts virtually “Talking Policy with Giuseppe Siani, Director General, Financial Supervision and Regulation, Banca D’Italia.”

Think Tanks

• Monday, April 8, 12:30 p.m. ET – The Brookings Institute holds a roundtable entitled “Wall Street Comes to Washington Health Care” at their Washington, D.C. headquarters.

• Tuesday, April 9 – 10 – The Aspen Institute holds its Employee Ownership Ideas Forum in Washington, D.C.  Sen. Chris Van Hollen, (D-Md.), participates in a discussion on "Hometown Ownership: The Impact of Employee Ownership in Rural Communities" and later  Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Bernie Sanders, (I-Vt.); and Alex Jacquez, special assistant to the president for economic development and industrial strategy at the National Economic Council, participate in a discussion on "Federal Agencies Supporting Employee Ownership."

• Wednesday, April 10, 10:00 a.m. – FDIC Chair Marty Gruenberg will present a comprehensive update of how the FDIC has prepared for the orderly resolution of a GSIB under Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

• Wednesday, April 10, 12: p.m. – The Federalist Society holds a panel discussion entitled “Navigating the Capital Adequacy Rule: Legal and Policy Perspectives” in Washington, D.C.  The panelists will include former Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Randy Quarles, former Secretary of Labor and Gibson Dunn Partner Eugene Scalia, Peter Conti-Brown, Professor of Financial Regulation, Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and Trent McCotter, Partner, Boyden Gray PLLC.

• Thursday, April 11, 9:00 a.m. – IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva will give an address on the state of the global economy at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C.

• Thursday, April 11, 9:00 a.m. – the Peterson Institute for International Economics will hold a discussion entitled “The Rise and Decline of Venture Capital in China.”  

• Thursday, April 11, 12:00 p.m. – U.S. News & World Report will hold a webinar entitled “Making Sense of the 2024 Housing Market During Spring Homebuying Season.”

• Thursday, April 11, 1:00 p.m. – U.S. Undersecretary of Treasury for International Affairs Jay Shambaugh will speak at the Peterson Institute on “The US Vision for Global Debt and Development Finance.”

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

U.S. Financial Regulatory Week Ahead

April 1 - 5, 2024

We hope everyone had a peaceful and enjoyable Easter. The coming week will be a very busy one as the annual “SEC Speaks” Conference, sponsored by the Practicing Law Institute, is held in Washington, D.C. Dozens of SEC officials will speak, beginning with SEC Chair Gary Gensler and SEC Commissioners Hester Pierce and Mark Uyeda. As with every SEC Speaks conference, there will be a lot of news about the SEC’s direction over the coming year.

But another conference in Washington this week may garner major headlines, too. The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) holds its Just Economy Conference 2024. All four banking regulators are speaking at the Conference  - Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chair Marty Gruenberg, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra. Considering that the NCRC has been lobbying against the Capital One/Discovery merger, you have to wonder if these four bank regulators  – all overseeing the review of the deal – are trying to send some message. 

Add to this the FDIC’s recent adoption of a proposal to effectively halt any bank merger in which one of the banks has more than $100 billion in assets—a proposal Gruenberg, Hsu, and Chopra voted in favor of—and you really start to wonder what they are thinking about the proposed merger.

Also, this coming week, a small army of Federal Reserve Board Governors and Federal Reserve Bank Presidents will be hitting the speaking circuit. Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle W. Bowman will give an address entitled “Bank Mergers and Acquisitions, and De Novo Bank Formation: Implications for the Future of the Banking System”. At the same time, Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Susan Collins will speak on the implications to the financial stability of Stablecoins.

Congress is out of session this week and return the following week. Below is a listing of all the other significant regulatory-related events this coming week:

U.S. Congressional Hearings 

U.S. Senate

• The Senate is out of session this week.

House of Representatives

• The House is out of session this week.

US Regulatory Meetings & Events

Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks

• Monday, April 1, 6:50 p.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa D. Cook gives Acceptance Remarks At the Lifetime Achievement Awards Ceremony, Cook Center at Duke University, Washington, D.C.

• Tuesday, April 2, 10:10 a.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle W. Bowman gives an address entitled “Bank Mergers and Acquisitions, and De Novo Bank Formation: Implications for the Future of the Banking System” at A Workshop on the Future of Banking hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (Virtual).

• Tuesday, April 2, 12:30 p.m. CT / 1:30 p.m. ET—San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly will participate in a hybrid fireside chat in partnership with the Henderson Chamber of Commerce, Latin Chamber of Commerce Nevada, and Vegas Chamber of Commerce.

• Wednesday, April 3, 9:45 a.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle W. Bowman gives an address entitled “Bank Liquidity, Regulation, and the Fed’s Role as Lender of Last Resort” at the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation Roundtable on Lender of Last Resort, Washington, D.C.

• Wednesday, April 3, 11:00 a.m. CT / 12:00 p.m. ET – Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Austan Goolsbee to give opening remarks before virtual Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago event entitled "Preventing Elder Financial Exploitation: Research, Policies, and Strategies.”

• Wednesday, April 3, 3:10 p.m. ET / 12:10 p.m. PST – Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. Powell gives an address entitled “Economic Outlook” at the Stanford Business, Government, and Society Forum, Stanford, California

• Wednesday, April 3, 1:10 p.m. – Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michael S. Barr participates in a discussion on  the Community Reinvestment Act at the Just Economy Conference 2024 in Washington, D.C.

• Wednesday, April 3, 4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Adriana D. Kugler gives a speech entitled “The Outlook for the U.S. Economy and Monetary Policy” at the “Conversation with a Governor of the Federal Reserve Board” in St. Louis, Missouri.

• Thursday, April 4, 1:00 p.m. CT / 2:00 p.m. ET: Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester will participate in a conversation on the economic outlook before the virtual Global Interdependence Center Executive Briefing.

• Thursday, April 4, 6:20 p.m. CT / 7:20 p.m. ET—St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President Alberto Musalem will give introductory remarks before the 2024 Women in Economics Symposium hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

• Thursday, April 4, 7:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Adriana D. Kugler gives a speech entitled “Enriching Data and Analysis in Economics with Real Life Experiences.” at the Women in Economics Symposium in St. Louis, Missouri.

• Friday, April 5, 7:30 a.m. CT / 8:30 a.m. ET—Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Susan Collins will give welcome remarks before the virtual Conference on the Financial Stability Implications of Stablecoins hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

• Friday, 8:15 a.m. – Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Barkin to speak before the Greater Baltimore Committee.  His speech is entitled "Pulse Check: The Scorecard Summit 2024.”

• Friday, April 5, 12:15 p.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle W. Bowman gives a speech entitled “Risks and Uncertainty in Monetary Policy: Current & Past Considerations” at the Shadow Open Market Committee Spring Meeting in New York.

U.S. Treasury Department

• There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Securities and Exchange Commission

• Tuesday, April 2, 8:45 a.m. – SEC Chair Gary Gensler will give an address at the Practicing Law Institutes’ “The SEC Speaks” Conference in Washington, D.C. 

• Tuesday, April 2, 10:25 a.m. – SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce will give remarks at the Practicing Law Institutes’ “The SEC Speaks” Conference in Washington, D.C. 

• Tuesday, April 2, 2:35 p.m. – SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda gives remarks at the Practicing Law Institutes’ “The SEC Speaks” Conference in Washington, D.C. 

• Thursday, April 4, 2:00 p.m. – The SEC will hold a Closed Meeting.

Commodities Futures Trading Commission

• Thursday, April 4, 5:45 p.m. – CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero will speak to a class on Emerging Issues in U.S. Financial Services Regulation at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.

• Friday, April 5, 12:00 p.m. – CFTC Commissioner Caroline D. Pham will receive the 2024 Belva Lockwood Award from The George Washington University Law School and Law Association for Women in Washington, D.C.

FINRA

• There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

• Thursday, April 4, 7:30 a.m. – FDIC Chair Marty Gruenberg will discuss financial services and inequality on a panel with Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition’s Just Economy Conference in Washington, D.C.

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

• Thursday, April 4, 7:30 a.m. – Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu will discuss financial services and inequality on a panel with FDIC Chair Marty Gruenberg at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition’s Just Economy Conference in Washington, D.C.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

• Wednesday, April 3, 3:45 p.m. – CFPB Director Rohit Chopra will give a speech at the Just Economy Conference 2024 in Washington, D.C.

• Thursday, April 4, 1:30 p.m. – CFPB Director Rohit Chopra speaks at the International Association of Privacy Professionals Global Privacy Summit in Washington, D.C.  His speech is entitled “ Unblurring the Lines: The Future of Financial Privacy.”

National Credit Union Administration

• There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Federal Trade Commission & Department of Justice Antitrust Division

• Tuesday, April 2, 2:00 p.m. – The FTC’s Older Adults Advisory Group Meeting will convene to discuss better ways to identify and stop scams from impacting older adults.  A heavy focus will be on how the banking sector can do more to block such scams.

Farm Credit Administration

• There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

International Monetary Fund & World Bank

• Tuesday, April 2, 3:30 p.m. – IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks at the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C.

Trade Associations & Think Tank Events

Trade Associations

• Tuesday, April 2, 12:45 p.m. – The American Bar Association holds a virtual discussion on "Inside Crypto's Trial of the Century," focusing on the trial of FTX Founder Sam-Bankman Fried.

Think Tanks

• Tuesday, April 2, 9:00 a.m. – The Institute for International Finance holds an online session entitled “Examining the U.S. SEC Final Climate Disclosure Rule in an International Context.”  Former SEC Commissioner Elad Roisman will be among the speakers.

• Thursday, April 4, 1:30 p.m. – The Brooking Institution holds a discussion entitled “Why is private credit growing so fast? Is it a risk to financial stability?” both virtually and in person in Washington, D.C.  

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

U.S. Financial Regulatory Week Ahead

March 18 - 22, 2024

You know spring is here when the major financial services trade groups hold big annual meetings. The American Bankers Association (ABA), SIFMA, and the Investment Company Institute are all holding conferences this week, with the ABA’s Washington Summit being the largest and likely most news-making. A number of regulators and members of Congress are speaking at these conferences, and we will be listening carefully to what is said.  

Outside of the trade association conferences, we will be watching five hearings the House Financial Services Committee is holding this week. It is our sense House Republicans are ramping up their focus and criticism of several regulatory proposals – mainly at the SEC but also the CFPB and Fed – as they prepare to begin moving Congressional Review Act (CRA) legislation to try and repeal the regs in advance of a June 7 deadline to use the CRA. 

Otherwise, the new Congress in 2025 would have to pass repeal legislation to get any regs repealed.

Speaking of regulations, as we predicted in our note last week, the SEC was likely to face a series of lawsuits over its new Carbon Disclosure rules. Well, those lawsuits came flying into federal courthouses fast and furious from various companies and trade associations (including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce), with one causing the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to issue an order temporarily blocking the rule.  

However, it wasn’t just businesses suing the SEC over the rule: The Sierra Club filed a federal lawsuit against the SEC, saying the rule did not go far enough and would leave investors unable to understand a company’s climate risk fully.  

Overall, this week will be busy in the U.S. financial regulatory space. Below are all the major regulatory events we are watching this coming week:

U.S. Congressional Hearings 

U.S. Senate

• Wednesday, March 20, 2:30 p.m.: The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on "The President's FY2025 Social Security Administration Budget.”

House of Representatives

• Monday, March 18, 11:00 a.m. - The House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee field hearing on "Victims of Regulatory Overreach: How the SEC's Climate Disclosure Rule Will Harm Americans."

• Wednesday, March 20, 10:00 a.m.: The House Financial Services Capital Markets Subcommittee will hold a hearing on "SEC Overreach: Examining the Need for Reform."

• Wednesday, March 20, 11:30 a.m. –The House Agriculture Committee holds a hearing on "The Danger China Poses to American Agriculture."

• Wednesday, March 20, 2:00 p.m.: The House Financial Services Housing and Insurance Subcommittee will hold a hearing on "The Characteristics and Challenges of Today's Homebuyers."

• Thursday, March 21, 10:00 a.m. – The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing entitled “Importing Global Governance: Examining the Dangers of Ceding Authority over American Financial Regulation.”

• Thursday, March 21, 2:30 p.m. – The House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee holds a hearing on "President Biden's FY2025 Budget Request and Economic Outlook."

Joint Committees

• There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

US Regulatory Meetings & Events

White House

• There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks

• Tuesday and Wednesday, March 19-20—The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee meets to discuss the state of the economy and interest rates. Federal Reserve Board Chair Jay Powell will give a press conference at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday to discuss the meeting and the interest rate decision.

• Thursday, March 21, 12:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve Vice Chair Michael Barr will have a Vice Chair for Supervision Michael S. Barr will participate in a “Conversation with Students and Faculty” At A View from the Fed: A Fireside Discussion at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

• Friday, March 22, 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. – The Federal Reserve will hold a Fed Listens: Transitioning to the Post-Pandemic Economy Event at the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C. Fed Chair Jay Powell will give opening remarks, followed by a panel discussion chaired by Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman entitled “Evolving Conditions for Families and Job Seekers.” This will be followed by a second panel, chaired by Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson, entitled “Industry Perspectives.”

• Friday, March 22, 12:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael S. Barr will give a speech entitled “International Economic and Monetary Design” at the Transnational Law Conference on the International Law of Money: International Economic and Monetary Design (virtual).

U.S. Treasury Department

• Wednesday, March 20, 1:30 p.m. – The US Treasury Department holds a meeting of the Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance to discuss topics related to climate-related financial risk and the insurance sector, to discuss cyber insurance developments and international insurance issues, to receive status updates from each of its subcommittees and from the Federal Insurance Office on its activities and to consider any new business.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

• Thursday, March 21, 10:00 a.m. (San Antonio, Texas) – The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Housing Counseling Federal Advisory Committee meets to discuss Meeting the Needs of the Latino Community in San Antonio, Texas.

Securities and Exchange Commission

• Monday, March 18, 1:15 p.m. PT – SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce participates in a Keynote Conversation with Investment Company Institute CEO Eric Pan at the 2024 ICI Conference in Palm Desert, California.

• Tuesday, March 19, 8:45 a.m. – SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda will participate in a “Regulatory Perspectives and Priorities” panel with SIFMA President and CEO Ken Bentsen, CFTC Commissioner Kristin Johnson, Deputy Comptroller Kevin Walsh, and NASAA President Claire McHenry at the SIFMA C&L Annual Seminar in Orlando, Florida.

• Thursday, March 21, 2:00 p.m. – The SEC holds a Closed Meeting.

• Friday, March 22, 12:00 p.m. – SEC Chair Gary Gensler will give remarks at the Columbia Law Conference in New York honoring Professor John Coffee.

Commodities Futures Trading Commission

• Tuesday, March 19, 8:45 a.m. – CFTC Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson will participate in a “Regulatory Perspectives and Priorities” panel with SIFMA President and CEO Ken Bentsen, SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda, Deputy Comptroller Kevin Walsh, and NASAA President Claire McHenry at the SIFMA C&L Annual Seminar in Orlando, Florida.

• Wednesday, March 20, 11:30 a.m. ET/8:30 a.m. PT – CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam will keynote virtually at the North American Carbon World (NACW) Conference in San Francisco, CA.

• Thursday, March 21, 6:15 a.m. ET/11:15 a.m. CET – CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero will participate on a panel at the World Federation of Exchanges’ Clearing and Derivatives Conference titled Higher Capital & Financial Resource Requirements - Reducing or Increasing Risk? In Madrid, Spain.

FINRA

• March 17-20 – SIFMA will be holding its Compliance and Legal 2024 Annual Seminar in Orlando, Florida.  Among the scheduled speakers are FINRA Head of Enforcement Bill St. Louis and FINRA CEO Robert Cook.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

• Thursday, March 21, 10:00 a.m. – The FDIC Board of Directors will meet virtually to discuss a proposed statement of Policy on Bank Merger Transactions.

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

• There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

• Thursday, March 21, 1:30 p.m. CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, along with Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General at the US Department of Justice, will speak at The Peterson Institute for International Economics at an event entitled “Revitalizing bank merger reviews.”   

National Credit Union Administration

• There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Federal Trade Commission & Department of Justice Antitrust Division

• Thursday, March 21, 11:00 a.m. – The FTC will hold an open meeting to discuss a new Supply Chain Report.

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.

Export-Import Bank

• There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

World Bank

• There are no significant events scheduled at this time.

Trade Associations & Think Tank Events

Trade Association Events/Public Events

• March 17-20 – SIFMA will be holding its Compliance and Legal 2024 Annual Seminar in Orlando, Florida.  Among the scheduled speakers are CFTC Director of Enforcement Ian McGinley, FINRA Head of Enforcement Bill St. Louis, former SEC Chair Mary Jo White, FINRA CEO Robert Cook, SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda, and US Attorney for the Southern District Damian Williams.

• March 17 – 20 – The Investment Company Institute holds its 2024 Investment Management Conference in Palm Desert, California.

• March 18 – 20 – The American Bankers Association holds its 2024 Washington Summit in Washington, D.C.  Among the speakers are Senators John Tester (D-MT), Katie Britt (R-AL), and House Majority Whip Representative Tom Emmer (R-MN)

• Tuesday, March 19, 9:00 a.m. – PunchBowl News holds a summit on "The Digital Payments Economy," focusing on "the future of commerce, exploring how digital payments support consumers, small businesses and the economy."  House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry (R-NC) will speak.

• Tuesday, March 19, 9:30 a.m. – The Institute for International Finance holds its IIF/EY Insurance Risk Management Survey Results event.

• Wednesday, March 20, 12:00 p.m. – The Exchequer Club of Washington, D.C., will host Michael Bright, President of the Structured Finance Association, for a speech on the industry.

• Thursday, March 21, 8:30 a.m. – Politico holds an event entitled “Building Toward Financial Literacy For All” in Washington, D.C.

Think Tank Events

• Tuesday, March 19, 9:30 a.m.: The Brookings Institution will hold an event entitled “Radical Tax Simplification: The Impossible Dream?” 

• Wednesday, March 20, 2:00 p.m. – The Institute for Policy Studies will hold an event entitled “Book Event: Busting the Bankers Club.” The event will discuss Gerald Epstein’s new book, “Busting the Bankers Club: Finance for the Rest of Us.”

• Thursday, March 21, 1:30 p.m. – The Peterson Institute for International Economics holds a virtual discussion entitled “Revitalizing bank merger reviews.”  Among the speakers will be Rohit Chopra, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and a member of the board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General at the US Department of Justice,  and Esther L. George, former Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

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

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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U.S. Financial Regulatory Week Ahead

Christmas may be around the corner, but the financial regulatory world in Washington is as busy as ever this coming week. While there are important regulatory meetings at the SEC, CFTC, and Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), the real action this coming week will be the growing focus on scandals at the FDIC and OCC and a congressional hearing questioning the role of FINRA.

Pressure on FDIC Chair Marty Gruenberg significantly grew this past week as Senate Banking Committee Ranking Republican Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) joined a growing chorus of members of Congress demanding Gruenberg’s resignation. This all comes in the wake of shocking revelations Gruenberg ignored bad behavior among the FDIC staff, including sexual harassment. 

 We think there is little chance he will step down and will almost surely try to fight through the scandal. If Gruenberg steps aside, the Republican FDIC Vice Chair, Travis Hill, would become the acting chair. Hill is an opponent of Gruenberg’s (and the Federal Reserve’s) new bank capital increase and would likely put it on ice.

Gruenberg took heat on another issue this past week from two unlikely critics: Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH).  Warren and Vance sent Gruenberg a letter aggressively questioning and criticizing Gruenberg for the agency’s sale of First Republic Bank to J.P. Morgan earlier this year.  Warren and Vance accused Gruenberg of “using a loophole to ignore viable bids, and instead held the nation’s largest bank grow even bigger.” The letter goes on to demand the FDIC’s reasoning and legal rationale for accepting the J.P. Morgan bid and why there was a $20 billion spread between competing bids (something Gruenberg indicated in answering a question by Senator Vance in a recent Senate Banking Committee hearing).

The other bank regulator to take heat this past week is Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Michael Hsu. Three House Financial Services Committee members fired off a letter to Hsu demanding to know how Hsu, who in October 2022 announced the creation of a new senior position called “the Financial Technology Officer,” then filled the position with someone with shockingly false credentials. Specifically, Hsu hired Prashant Bhardwaj in March for the role.  The OCC announcement stated, “Mr. Bhardwaj joins the agency after nearly 30 years of experience serving a variety of roles across the financial sector.”  But doing that math, that would have meant he started working on Wall Street when he was 13 years old.  

Moreover, Bhardwaj claimed to have been the Chief Information Officer at Fifth Third Bank before taking a similar role at Huntington Bank. In fact, he never worked at either bank. He also falsely claimed educational credentials and concealed his extensive criminal record. All this puts Hsu – who the Biden Administration has never put up for Senate confirmation, preferring to keep him in an acting role – in a very uncomfortable position with Congress.

Finally, FINRA, facing a grave threat to its very existence via a current Supreme Court case, will take further heat this week at the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Capital Markets. FINRA President & CEO Robert Cook will testify Tuesday – along with Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Chair Richard Jones and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Chair Erica Williams – on the “agenda of regulators, SROs (Self-Regulatory Organizations), and Standard Setters for Accounting, Auditing.” 

In advance of the hearing, Cook received a letter this past week from the Subcommittee Chair, Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MS), and two other Subcommittee members charging that “In recent years, FINRA has deviated from its role as a member-driven [self-regulatory organization]...into a quasi-private, quasi-governmental entity that wields largely unchecked executive powers with virtually no regulatory or legislative accountability.” It is likely to be a rough hearing for Cook.

Finally, back to more normal regulatory activities, we will watch closely as the SEC holds an Open Meeting on Wednesday to consider reforms to the U.S. Treasury Market. The CFTC also has an open meeting to consider four new regulatory proposals, including new capital and financial reporting requirements for swap deals. Last, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will chair a Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) meeting on Thursday to review various issues ranging from hedge fund oversight to climate regulations to cybersecurity.

Below is a listing of all 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

• December 12, 10:00 a.m. – The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on “Cleaning up the C-Suite: Ensuring Accountability for Corporate Criminals.”

• December 13, 3:00 p.m. – The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights holds a hearing on “The New Invisible Hand? The Impact of Algorithms on Competition and Consumer Rights.”

House of Representatives

• December 12, 10:00 a.m. – The House Financial Services Committee’s National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions Subcommittee holds a hearing on "Restricting Rogue-State Revenue: Strengthening Energy Sanctions on Russia, Iran, and Venezuela." Testifying will be The Honorable Marshall Billingslea, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute; Dr. Anna Mikulska, Senior Fellow, Kleiman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania; Dr. Ryan Berg, Director, Americas Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Claire Jungman, Chief of Staff, Against Nuclear Iran, and Adam Smith, Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

• December 12, 2:00 p.m. – The House Financial Services Committee’s Capital Markets Subcommittee holds a hearing on "Examining the Agenda of Regulators, SROs (Self-Regulatory Organizations), and Standards-Setters for Accounting, Auditing." · Testifying will be Erica Williams, Chair of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”), Richard Jones, Chair of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), and Robert Cook, President and CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”).

• December 13, 9:00 a.m. – The House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee holds a hearing on "Moving the Money Part 2: Getting Answers from the Biden Administration on the Iranian Regime's Support of Terrorism."·   Testifying will be Elizabeth Rosenberg,  Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, and Abram Paley, Deputy Special Envoy to Iran.

US Regulatory Meetings & Events

Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks

• December 12 – 13: The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee holds a closed meeting to consider interest rates. Federal Reserve Board Chair Jay Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. on the 13th.

U.S. Treasury Department

• December 14, 4:15 p.m. – The Financial Stability Board will meet at the US Treasury Department (Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will chair).  The preliminary agenda for the executive session includes an update on the Council’s Nonbank Mortgage Servicing Task Force; an update on the Council’s Hedge Fund Working Group; an update on the Council’s Climate-related Financial Risk Committee; and an update on cybersecurity developments. The preliminary agenda for the public session includes the Council’s 2023 annual report. 

• December 13, 1:00 p.m. – The Treasury Department holds a virtual meeting of the Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance.  The agenda includes: a discussion of topics related to climate-related financial risk and the insurance sector; discussion on cyber insurance developments and international insurance issues; status updates from each of its subcommittees and from FIO on its activities, as well as consideration of any new business

Securities and Exchange Commission

• December 13,   10:00 a.m. – The SEC will hold an Open Meeting to consider rules to improve Risk Management in Clearance and Settlement and to Facilitate Additional Central Clearing for the U.S. Treasury Market.  

Commodities Futures Trading Commission

• December 11, 9:30 a.m. – The CFTC holds a meeting of the Market Risk Advisory Committee to discuss current topics and developments in the areas of central counterparty risk and governance, market structure, climate-related risk, and innovative and emerging technologies affecting the derivatives and related financial markets.

• December 13, 9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. – The CFTC will hold an Open Meeting to consider four proposed rules.  These include:

1. Operational Resilience Framework for Futures Commission Merchants, Swap Dealers, and Major Swap Participants

2. Capital and Financial Reporting Requirements for Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants

3. Protection of Clearing Member Funds Held by Derivatives Clearing Organizations

4. Amendments to Swap Data Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements

5. They will also consider an Amended Application of the Binomial Clearinghouse, LLC for Registration as a Derivatives Clearing Organization.

• December 14, 9:00 a.m. – The CFTC holds a meeting of the Agricultural Advisory Committee to discuss topics related to the agricultural economy, including geopolitical and sustainability issues, as well as recent developments in the agricultural derivatives markets.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

• December 12, 2:00 p.m. – FDIC Director Jonathan McKernan will give a keynote speech and participate in a fireside chat at the ISDA Trading Book Capital: Basel 3 Implementation Conference in New York.

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

1. December 10, 6:45 p.m. – Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu will participate in a discussion about the state of financial inclusion with Operation Hope founder and CEO John Hope Bryant during the Hope Global Forum 2023 Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

• No significant events are scheduled at this time.

National Credit Union Administration

• No significant events are scheduled at this time.

Federal Trade Commission & Department of Justice Antitrust Division

• No significant events are scheduled at this time.

Farm Credit Administration

• December 14, 10:00 a.m. – The Farm Credit Administration holds a meeting on a quarterly report on economic conditions and farm credit system condition and performance and a semiannual report on Office of Examination operations.

Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation

• December 13, 10:00 a.m. – The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation holds a meeting of the board of directors.  Agenda includes: (Open) Quarterly FCSIC financial reports; Quarterly report on insured obligations; Quarterly report on annual performance plan; Strategic Plan 2024-2029 (Closed) Report on insurance risk; Federal Managers Financial Integrity Act review; Audit plan for the year ended December 31, 2023; and Executive session of the Audit Committee with the auditor.

 Trade Associations & Think Tank Events 

Trade Associations

December 12, 1:30 – 5:00 p.m. – ISDA holds its “Trading Book Capital: Basel 3 Implementation Conference.”  FDIC Director Jonathan McKernan will give a keynote speech and participate in a fireside chat.

December 14, 10:00 a.m. – The Institute for International Finance holds a virtual report on Emerging Market Capital Flows for Latin America (in Spanish).

Think Tanks

• December 12, 9:30 a.m. – The Atlantic Council The Atlantic Council holds a virtual discussion, beginning at 9:30 a.m., on "Debating the Dollar: Who Wants It, Who Doesn't, and What Comes Next?"

• December 12, 12:00 p.m. – The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies holds a virtual discussion, beginning at 12 p.m., on "FSOC's (Financial Stability Oversight Committee) Updated Approach for Responding to Financial Stability Risks: New Guidance on Nonbank "SIFI (Systemically Important Financial Institutions)" Designations."

• December 12, 2:30 p.m. – The Urban Institute holds a virtual discussion, beginning at 2:30 p.m., on the "Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women Research Partnership," focusing on the "findings and recommendations to close the racial wealth gap."

• December 13, 9:00 a.m. – The Peterson Institute for International Economics hosts an event entitled “The US Debate about the Final Basel III Accord.” 

• December 14, 9:00 a.m. – The Center for Global Development holds a virtual discussion on "Transformation of the MDBs (Multilateral Development Banks): Taking Stock and Looking Forward."

• December 14, 9:00 a.m. – The Brookings Institution holds a discussion on "The importance of financial data collection and standardization."  Sen. Jack Reed, (D-Rhode Island), a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee.  delivers morning keynote remarks.  In the afternoon, Treasury Undersecretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang delivers afternoon keynote remarks.  Other participants/speakers include Sandra Lee, deputy assistant Treasury secretary in the Financial Stability Oversight Council; Makada Henry-Nickie, executive director of JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Allan Mendelowitz, president of the Algorithmic Contract Types Unified Standards Financial Research Foundation and the ACTUS Users Association; Stephan Wolf, CEO of the Global Legal Equity Identifier Foundation; Gillian Tett, U.S. editor-at-large and chair of the editorial board at the Financial Times; Aaron Klein, associate at Semantic Arts, Inc.; Kathryn Judge, professor of law at Columbia University; Ylan Mui, managing director of the Penta Group; and Ben Harris, vice president and director of economic studies at the Brookings Institution and director of the Brookings Institution's Retirement Security Project.

• December 14, 3:00 p.m. – The Brookings Institution holds a discussion on "Have real estate and labor markets reached a new normal?"

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

U.S. Financial Regulatory Week Ahead

November 13 - 17, 2023

Bank regulators will testify before the House and Senate on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.  Watch for fireworks around the Federal Reserve’s new capital requirement proposal and recent modifications to the Community Reinvestment Act regulations as members of Congress are likely to ramp up sharp criticism of both efforts. 

Feeding into this line of attack will be the speech Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle Bowman gave last week rather harshly criticizing the capital standards as unnecessary and suggesting other regulatory efforts by the Fed (read: Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr) are outside the scope of the Federal Reserve’s legal mandate.

 Also, this coming week, Fed Vice Chair Barr and FDIC Chair Marty Gruenberg will speak virtually on a panel hosted by the EU-based Systemic Risk Council entitled “Banking sector turbulences; Lessons Learnt for Supervision and Regulation.”  This is one of the first times the two regulators responsible for the Silicon Valley Bank crisis and other recent bank closings will speak together about what worked – and what did not.

Speaking of the FDIC, they will meet this week to formally approve a new assessment on banks as part of recent regulatory efforts post-Silicon Valley Bank. 

Finally, we will watch the New York Federal Reserve’s 2023 U.S. Treasury Market Conference in New York.  Speakers will include U.S. Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam, U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang, New York Federal Reserve Bank President & CEO John Williams, and several senior regulatory officials.

Below is the full regulatory calendar for the coming week.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

U.S. Congressional Hearings 

House of Representatives

• November 14, 10:00 a.m. – The House Financial Services Committee holds a markup of H.R. 5921 (118), the "No U.S. Financing for Iran Act of 2023"; H.R. 5923 (118), the "Iran-China Energy Sanctions Act of 2023"; H.R. 6245 (118), the "Holding Iranian Leaders Accountable Act"; the "Iran Counterterrorism Act of 2023"; the "End Financing to Hamas and State Sponsors of Terrorism Act"; H.R. 5945 (118), the "Freezing-Halting Any More Alleviation of Sanction Act"; H.R. 6000 (118), the "Revoke Iranian Funding Act of 2023"; H.R. 6015 (118), the "Iran Sanctions Accountability Act of 2023"; the "Armed Conflict Migration Act of 2023"; the "Office of Foreign Assets Control Licensure for Investigators Act"; and the "Stopping Illicit Oil Shipments Act of 2023."

• November 15, 9:30 a.m. – The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing with top banking regulators and other financial regulators.  The witnesses will include Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr,  Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

• November 15, 2:00 p.m. – The House Financial Services Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion Subcommittee holds a hearing on "Crypto Crime in Context: Breaking Down the Illicit Activity in Digital Assets."

U.S. Senate

• November 14, 10:00 a.m. – The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing with top banking regulators and other financial regulators.  The witnesses will include Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chair Martin Gruenberg, acting Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Michael Hsu, and National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Chair Todd Harper.

US Regulatory Meetings & Events

Joint Regulatory Agency Event

• November 16: The New York Federal Reserve Bank will host the 2023 U.S. Treasury Market Conference.  Speakers will include U.S. Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam, U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang, New York Federal Reserve Bank President & CEO John Williams, and a number of senior regulatory officials.

Federal Reserve Board

• November 13, 8:50 a.m. – US Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook will give introductory remarks at the Federal Reserve Board 5th Conference on Nontraditional Data, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing in Macroeconomics in Washington, D.C.

• November 14, 10:00 a.m. – US Federal Reserve Board Chair Michael Barr will testify before the Senate Banking Committee at a hearing entitled “Hearing on Oversight of the Financial Regulators.”  Also testifying with Barr will be Martin Gruenberg, Chair, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Todd Harper, Chair, National Credit Union Administration; and Michael Hsu, Acting Comptroller, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

• November 14:  U.S. Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr will speak on a panel at the 7th Annual Conference on Systemic Risk (virtual) on a panel entitled “Banking sector turbulences; Lessons Learnt for supervision and regulation” at the 7th Annual Conference on Systemic Risk (virtual).  Joining him on the panel will be Pablo Hernández de Cos, Governor of Banco de España, Chair of the ESRB Advisory Technical Committee and Chair of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (who will chair the panel),  Martin Gruenberg, Chair of the FDIC, Stephen Cecchetti, Chair of the ESRB Advisory Scientific Committee, Professor and Rosen Family Chair in International Finance, Brandeis International Business School, Mathias Dewatripont, Professor, Université libre de Bruxelles,  Andrea Enria, Chair of the Supervisory Board, European Central Bank Banking Supervision.

• November 16, 10:30 a.m. – U.S. Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher J. Waller gives a speech on ‘Central Bank Digital Currency” at the 2nd Conference on the Economics of Central Bank Digital Currency by the Bank of Canada and Sveriges Riksbank, Stockholm, Sweden.

• November 16, 9:25. a.m.: New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams to speak before the in 2023 U.S. Treasury Markets Conference co-hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

• November 16, 7:00 a.m. – U.S. Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook speaks on “Global Linkages and Spillovers” at Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Asia Economic Policy Conference – Global Linkages in a Post-Pandemic World, San Francisco, California

• November 17 (Frankfurt, Germany): San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly to give closing keynote before the 33rd Frankfurt European Banking Congress.

U.S. Treasury Department

• No significant policy events are scheduled.

Securities and Exchange Commission

• No significant policy events are scheduled.

Commodities Futures Trading Commission

• November 13: The CFTC Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee will meet in Washington, D.C.   

• November 13, 12:05 p.m. – CFTC Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson will deliver a keynote address at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Atlanta Economics Club (a monthly lunch series)  in Atlanta, Georgia.

• November 14 – 16: The CFTC  will host a Career Forum for College, University, and Law School Students and Recent Graduates in Washington,. D.C.

• November 15: CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam will participate in a fireside chat at the Financial Markets Quality Conference 2023 hosted by the Psaros Center at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business in Washington, D.C.

• November 15, 3:15 p.m. – CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero will participate in a Regulatory and Policy Roundtable at the Financial Markets Quality Conference at Georgetown’s Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy in Washington, D.C.

• November 16, 10:00 a.m. – CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero will deliver a keynote address at the Consumer Federation of America’s Financial Services Conference in Washington, D.C.

• November 16, 1:20 p.m. (Singapore Time) – CFTC Commissioner Caroline D. Pham will speak on a panel titled “Are investors backing the digital assets ecosystem? A policy and investor dialogue” at the Singapore Fintech Festival.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

• November 16, 10: 00 a.m. – The FDIC Board of Directors he Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Board of Directors will meet to consider the following matters:

  • Memorandum and resolution re: Final Rule on Special Assessment Pursuant to Systemic Risk Determination.

  • Briefing on the Restoration Plan Semiannual Update.

• November 16, 1:10 p.m. Frankfurt, Germany Time: FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg will speak (virtually) on a panel entitled “Banking sector turbulences; Lessons Learnt for supervision and regulation” at the 7th Annual Conference on Systemic Risk (virtual).  Joining him on the panel will be Pablo Hernández de Cos, Governor of Banco de España, Chair of the ESRB Advisory Technical Committee and Chair of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (who will chair the panel),  Michael Barr, Vice-Chair for Supervision, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Stephen Cecchetti, Chair of the ESRB Advisory Scientific Committee, Professor and Rosen Family Chair in International Finance, Brandeis International Business School, Mathias Dewatripont, Professor, Université libre de Bruxelles
  Andrea Enria, Chair of the Supervisory Board, European Central Bank Banking Supervision

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

• No significant policy events are scheduled.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

• November 14, 1:00 p.m. – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau holds a meeting by teleconference of the Consumer Advisory Board to discuss broad policy matters related to the bureau's unified regulatory agenda and general scope of authority

• November 15, 1:00 p.m. – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau holds a meeting by teleconference of the Community Bank Advisory Council to discuss broad policy matters related to the bureau's unified regulatory agenda and general scope of authority.

• November 16, 1:00 p.m. –  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau holds a meeting by teleconference of the Credit Union Advisory Council to discuss broad policy matters related to the bureau's unified regulatory agenda and general scope of authority.

National Credit Union Administration

• No significant policy events are scheduled.

Federal Trade Commission & Department of Justice Antitrust Division

• No significant policy events are scheduled.

Farm Credit Administration

• No significant policy events are scheduled.

Trade Associations & Think Tank Events

Trade Associations

• November 14-16:  ISDA holds their “Voluntary Carbon Markets Forum: Building Trust in the Voluntary Carbon Markets” in London.

• November 14: The Investment Company Institute holds their annual Closed-End Fund Conference in New York.

• November 16, 2:00 p.m. – The Bipartisan Policy Center hosts a speech by Stefano Scarpetta, Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on the topic “AI and the Workforce: An International Economic Outlook.”  The event will be virtual and in person.

Think Tanks

• Nothing significant to report. 

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