The Senate confirmed Jospeh Otting, a former business partner of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
The differences in business model between commercial banks and universal banks should not be ignored as Congress works to recalibrate the regulatory regime.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg on Tuesday opposed efforts to roll back “core reforms” to bank regulation that were implemented after the 2008 financial crisis, but said some review of the Dodd-Frank law is warranted.
It was a decidedly mixed bag for banks and credit unions in the Senate regulatory relief bill, with some institutions doing quite well while others were left out in the cold. Following is a guide to who was helped - and who lost out.
The regulatory relief bill would raise the SIFI threshold to $250 billion of assets and allow mortgages held in portfolio to be counted as "qualified," among other items, but it is far less sweeping than institutions had hoped.
A bill that would ease Basel III capital requirements on commercial real estate loans could level the playing field between depository and nonbank lenders and spur more construction lending if it passes in the Senate.
Democrats' victories in Virginia and New Jersey fueled speculation that they may be able retake the House during midterm elections next year. That could have a big impact on regulatory relief, housing finance reform and other bank priorities.
