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.  

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