Joe Biden

While most of the public attention has been on Joe Biden's lead in presidential polls, any true overhaul of the bank regulatory landscape hinges on whether Democrats can retake the Senate — and by what margin.

A recent ruling declaring the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s structure unconstitutional signaled that a similar outcome awaits the Federal Housing Finance Agency. But the FHFA will argue in a new case that it does not deserve the same fate.

The Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee called for a public credit reporting agency and for the Postal Service to offer financial services, among other proposals issued through a unity task force with Bernie Sanders. But analysts suggest the recommendations are more about electoral politics than pushing for real reforms.

Wall Street's Democratic insiders, who have been cutting checks and winning access for decades, say they have plenty of sway in the former vice president's orbit, despite his very public wooing of the progressive left.

Lenders and small businesses are hoping this round goes more smoothly than the chaotic first one (and if it doesn't, Joe Biden warns, many mom-and-pop shops are done for); originators are adding staff, cutting marketing to handle massive uptick in refinance applications.