Brendan Pedersen covered Capitol Hill and regulatory politics for American Banker until September 2022. From 2019-2021, he covered the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency as well as fintech policy. Originally from Chicagoland, he was previously a staff writer for Kiplinger's Personal Finance and covered local business affairs in Denver, Colorado for BusinessDen.
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The hearing would have featured debate on a number of housing bills, along with a measure to block commercial firms from owning industrial banks and new limits on overdraft fees. House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters has tested positive twice since April.
June 14 -
All five of the Biden administration's nominees received enough votes to secure passage to the Senate floor. Chair Sherrod Brown of Ohio called the moment "historic."
March 16 -
The West Virginia Democrat released a statement Monday saying that Sarah Bloom Raskin, President Biden's nominee to serve as the Federal Reserve's top regulator, "failed to satisfactorily address my concerns" and that he would not support her. Manchin's "no" vote puts her confirmation very much in doubt.
March 14 -
The Federal Reserve's capital guidance for S corporations is hindering some community development banks' access to the Treasury's $9 billion Emergency Capital Investment Program. The Fed has offered exemptions in the past, so why isn't it doing so now?
February 23 -
A federal judge last week upheld "valid when made" rules that support such arrangements. But analysts say an appeals fight is likely, and new leadership at the OCC and FDIC could change the agencies' view of interest rate exportation across state lines.
February 13 -
The White House's pick for vice chair for supervision, Sarah Bloom Raskin, took the brunt of criticism from Republicans on Thursday. But it seemed to do little to sow doubt among the Senate Banking Committee's moderate Democrats about Raskin or fellow nominees Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson.
February 3 -
Republicans have knocked Sarah Bloom Raskin as too liberal on climate change and Lisa Cook as underqualified ahead of a Senate Banking Committee hearing Thursday. Meanwhile, a Democratic senator's illness threatens to stall nomination votes in the full chamber.
February 2 -
The Federal Reserve, FDIC, OCC and CFPB — increasingly under the leadership of Democratic appointees — are gearing up to regulate cryptocurrency, modernize the Community Reinvestment Act and give consumers more control of their personal data. Here's a look at the policy changes they're mulling.
January 27 -
The Federal Reserve Board would become far more diverse if Sarah Bloom Raskin, Philip Jefferson and Lisa Cook are confirmed by the Senate. Jefferson and Cook are respected economists seen as likely to get the nod, but Republicans will challenge Raskin's assertions that bank regulators can play a vital role in combating climate change.
January 14 -
The Trump-appointed head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Jelena McWilliams, said she plans to leave the agency in early February. The announcement comes weeks after Democratic appointees making up a majority of the board had threatened her leadership by acting on policy related to bank mergers without her consent.
December 31 -
Biden administration appointees moved quickly to highlight climate change risks and unwind Trump-era regulatory relief and housing finance measures. These regulators and lawmakers will have a seat at the table as the progressive shift in banking policy continues.
December 29 -
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra has helped assert the authority of the three Democrats — including himself — who serve on the governing body of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. GOP lawmakers responded with a bill to strip the consumer agency's head of voting powers on the FDIC board.
December 15 -
The White House is considering nominating Richard Cordray, who led the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from 2013 to 2017, as the Federal Reserve's next vice chairman of supervision, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
November 30 -
In a letter to the agency’s new director, top Senate Democrats recommended policy steps intended to limit mistakes in consumers’ credit files that they said “can ruin lives.”
November 11 -
A report by the agency found that consumers in majority Black neighborhoods were more than twice as likely as those in white neighborhoods to lodge complaints with the credit bureaus over information in their files. Meanwhile, disputes were less common among older borrowers.
November 2 -
The agency said the risk management program for Cenlar FSB, which performs servicing functions for financial institution clients, was inadequate for the bank's size.
October 26 -
Criticism from banking and other business groups of Saule Omarova’s candidacy could make it difficult for moderate Democrats to support President Biden's pick to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
September 29 -
Saule Omarova supports allowing the Federal Reserve to hold customer deposits and is skeptical of big-bank M&A. While those views are unpopular in the industry, banking critics hailed the choice to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
September 23 -
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency made good on a promise to rescind Community Reinvestment Act reforms finalized by ex-Comptroller Joseph Otting as part of talks with other regulators on an interagency overhaul of the law.
September 8 -
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency confirmed it will rescind an unpopular rule overhauling the Community Reinvestment Act and joined other agencies in calling for a renewed interagency effort.
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