Regulatory relief

There's been a legislative bottleneck since the the crisis-era law went into effect, but Congress has moved forward on a handful of significant changes.

Numerous regional banks stand to benefit from a provision that narrows the scope of institutions defined as "systemically important" under the Dodd-Frank Act.

The Senate is poised to pass the most substantial bank regulatory relief since the crisis, but any disruption of the post-crisis regime is still eclipsed by how much the bill enshrines Dodd-Frank.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., filed a motion on the Senate floor Thursday setting up a potential vote next week on the bipartisan regulatory relief package.

The legislation carves out protections for smaller banks to offer abusive loans to borrowers under the "qualified mortgage" standard, as long as they hold those loans in portfolio.

Democrats used a hearing with Fed Chair Jerome Powell to lay the groundwork for an intraparty debate over the merits of the Senate’s regulatory relief bill.

The interim head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said the agency may allow prudential regulators to take the lead on more supervisory matters to cut down on duplication.

“Why we think we know better or how to protect consumers in your state surprises me,” acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney told a group of state attorneys general. “I don’t think we’ll being do much of that anymore.”

Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo said he is hopeful that a bipartisan deal to roll back certain Dodd-Frank Act regulations will soon have a vote on the Senate floor.

Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney dismissed concerns by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., about his leadership of the consumer agency while supporting a lighter regulatory touch for credit unions.

Credit union executives talked up a pending regulatory relief effort while endorsing a radical shift in direction by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during a meeting with President Trump and other top White House officials on Monday.

House Chief Deputy Whip Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., said House lawmakers are having discussions with the Senate about ways to go further on rolling back Dodd-Frank before the Senate is expected to hold a floor vote.

As a bipartisan regulatory relief bill approaches the finish line in the Senate, the House has mostly stood on the sidelines. But no one expects the lower chamber to just rubber-stamp the deal.

Commenting on the consumer bureau’s enforcement practices as part of a CFPB review could help shape regulatory reforms, but it could also draw attention to a firm’s run-in with the agency.

Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Mick Mulvaney is discarding many of the policies of his predecessor but none as important perhaps as the agency's targeting of "unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices."

Nonbank mortgage firms are seeking formal assurance from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that they will not become subject to surprise audits or enforcement without involvement of a state regulator.

The acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday had his first taste of the withering congressional criticism endured by his predecessor on trips to Capitol Hill.

The Trump administration’s 2019 budget highlights the administration’s goal of reining in the post-crisis regulatory apparatus, with proposed cuts for several agencies including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The statutory clock on Mick Mulvaney serving as acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is under a year, but the administration's path to getting a full-time director confirmed by the Senate has never looked rockier.

Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting met Tuesday with acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney to discuss ways to reduce regulatory burden and coordinate supervision of financial firms.