Treasury Department

The Trump administration has compelled the Federal Reserve to shut down the Main Street Lending Program and other facilities that aid banks’ pandemic relief efforts, but President-elect Biden’s Treasury nominee could help turn the spigot back on.

The Structured Finance Association fears Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin may release the government-sponsored enterprises from conservatorship ahead of the change in administration, and that doing so could disrupt the mortgage-backed securities market.

U.S. government debt just logged its best week since August after the Treasury demanded the Fed return unused funds from emergency lending programs, a request the central bank said late Friday it would comply with. The development bolstered Wall Street predictions that the Fed will unveil more monetary action when it meets in mid-December.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called on the Federal Reserve Thursday to let several of its emergency lending facilities expire at yearend and return unused funds provided by Congress. But the central bank wants the programs to continue.

The teams include people who previously worked for the Treasury and the Federal Housing Finance Agency as well as HUD.

A moderate pick with financial sector ties could upset progressives, while the likely GOP majority in the Senate could balk at a nominee seen as too liberal. Here are some of the candidates.

If Republicans keep their majority, the incoming administration will likely have to pick moderates over progressives to have any chance of getting its nominees approved.

A Democratic victory in Tuesday’s election would likely produce new leaders at the CFPB and OCC who could take bank regulation in a sharply different direction. Here are some names potentially under consideration.

Commercial real estate companies are among those left out of the Federal Reserve’s middle-market relief program, but House members said they need government-backed financing to navigate the pandemic as much as anyone.

Many commercial property owners are locked out of existing coronavirus relief by financing terms that bar them from taking new loans. Under a House bill, they would receive government-backed equity investments.