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Farewell to 2021
The year is drawing to a close, and Washington is settling down for a short winter’s nap. The House of Representatives has left town for the holidays. The Senate is still in session, voting on nominations, but has pushed consideration of the President’s Build Back Better Act to 2022. It’s eerily warm out, but we’re hanging our stockings anyway, and wishing all of you a safe and happy holiday season.
House Financial Services Committee gets a lesson on stablecoins
Although subcommittees and task forces had held hearings on a wide range of topics related to cryptocurrency and digital assets, it wasn’t until this week that the full House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on the topic.
The CR is only half the battle
The House and Senate agreed yesterday to a continuing resolution that should keep the government running until February 18, but the government may default on its obligations sometime before the year end anyway, unless Congress raises the debt ceiling.
Congratulations to Top Lobbyists of 2021
Doyle Bartlett and Blair Hancock, members of NAIB’s federal government relations team, were recognized by the noted publication The Hill on their 2021 list of top lobbyists.
House approves Build Back Better plan on party lines
After a speech by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) lasting more than eight hours (we admit we did not stay up for all of it), the House of Representatives approved HR 5376, the Build Back Better Act, by a 220-213 vote this morning.
Conference of State Bank Supervisors expresses concern regarding ILC legislation
Congress is considering eliminating the exemption for industrial loan companies (“ILCs”) from the definition of a bank under the Bank Holding Company Act (“BHCA”). State regulators believe there are several misconceptions regarding ILCs and the permissible activities of ILCs and their commercial parents.
Working late on a Friday
As we write, the House has begun the process of voting on an infrastructure package. President Joe Biden asked the House today to pass both an infrastructure bill and the reconciliation legislation that includes his Build Back Better plan.
Biden unveils Build Back Better framework, House readies for action
The House of Representatives postponed its expected vote on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF) this week as President Joe Biden announced a revised version of his Build Back Better plan, which he described as “a historic economic framework.”
FSOC calls climate change “an emerging and increasing threat to US financial stability”
The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) published its much-anticipated Report on Climate-Related Financial Risk yesterday, making specific recommendations for action by its member agencies.
NAIB Comment Letter on Proposed Interagency Guidance on Third Party Relationships
NAIB member banks understand the importance of managing third party relationships in a safe and sound manner. We hope the comments provided will be helpful in developing well balanced and effective guidelines without regulatory burdens that may be overkill and without adequately considering the impact on the banks.
Cross-Section of Business and Financial Interests Oppose New Tax Information Reporting Regime
This proposal would create serious financial privacy concerns, increase tax preparation costs for individuals and small businesses, and create significant operational challenges for financial institutions.
Read the letters to President Biden and Members of the U.S House of Representatives and Senate regarding this issue.
Senate approves temporary increase to debt limit
Financial markets breathed a tentative sigh of relief last night when the Senate voted 50-48 to raise the statutory debt limit by $480 billion. This should push the federal government’s risk of default to early December.
Happy new year?
The federal fiscal year ended yesterday at midnight — mostly, sort of, except for the House side of Capitol Hill, where it remains the legislative day of September 30. Congress did pass a temporary spending bill to keep the government open until December 3. The House continues to work on its version of an infrastructure bill.
Debt ceiling looms as fiscal year ends
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) vowed at a press conference yesterday that Congress will keep the federal government open and prevent a default on federal debt. The House of Representatives approved a continuing resolution with a debt limit suspension on Tuesday with a party-line vote.
House Subcommittee reaffirms the Strengths and Regulatory Oversight of Industrial Banks
This week the US House Financial Services Committee Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions conducted a hearing “The Future of Banking: How Consolidation, Nonbank Competition, and Technology are Reshaping the Banking System”.
Deadlines met, deadlines pending
All 13 House committees charged with marking up pieces of the budget reconciliation package have finished that work, voting out spending bills along party lines, with no Republicans voting in the affirmative. But the end of the fiscal year—September 30—looms, as does the debt ceiling.
Welcome back!
Welcome back! While the House officially remains in its district work period until September 20, several committees have been hard at work this week, and that work will continue next week.
Senate approves bipartisan infrastructure plan
Unless you’ve been asleep for the last week, you already know that the Senate voted on Tuesday morning to pass their version of a bill to authorize five years of infrastructure funding. The bill replaced the text of H.R. 3684, the INVEST in America Act, which the House passed on July 1.
Respected Academics Reaffirm Safety Of Industrial Banks
The Utah Center for Financial Services at the University of Utah’s comprehensive study “Source of Strength and Consolidated Supervision: A Comparative Assessment of Industrial Banks and Commercial Banks”, by Dr. James Barth and Dr. Yanfei Sun.”
Administration extends pause on student loan payments
The Department of Education announced late this afternoon that it is extending the pause on federal student loan payments from its original expiration date of September 30 to January 31, 2022.