Political Risk

Tech companies may be the biggest winners of a custodial deposit provision tucked away in a much-touted bipartisan housing bill set to become law this week.

The Senate passed a bipartisan housing package, which includes certain community bank provisions, in an 85-5 vote. The House is set to vote on the package Wednesday.

A potential deletion from a long-standing regulatory definition has banks questioning how to classify vast swaths of their lending books.

The first bipartisan, bicameral housing compromise includes a suite of community banking provisions long sought by the industry.

Lawmakers from both parties defended regional Federal Reserve banks against potential consolidation, arguing local economic perspectives are essential to ensure monetary policy remains sound.

Banking Committee Democrats warned that the Trump administration's failure to nominate Democrats to vacancies at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Securities and Exchange Commission and National Credit Union Administration threatens the bipartisan structure Congress established for financial regulators.

Mortgage industry participants say Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte's new role as acting director of national intelligence could imperil progress on a potential initial public offering of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Federal Reserve's former top regulator said recent efforts to reform regulation and supervision have boosted executive compensation and share buybacks, not the broader economy.

Federal Reserve Board Governor Jerome Powell's decision to remain on the board he once led combined with a lack of explicit rules governing Fed governance could lead to a power struggle that hasn't been seen in a generation.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte won the White House's favor by acting as an attack dog for the administration, using his agency's data to target President Trump's political enemies with fraud allegations, though those efforts have not withstood judicial scrutiny.