Updates
The latest news and advocacy information for industrial bankers.
. . . And we’re out
At least Congress is out, until after Labor Day. The last week has been hectic. Here’s where we are, after three frenzied weeks:
Recess was nice while it lasted
The DC office is unusually crowded for a Friday afternoon in July as we prepare for the three weeks between now and the August recess.
Things will start with a bang on Monday morning, when Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr is expected to unveil the Fed’s proposal for new capital requirements, specifically targeting the largest banks.
The halftime report
No, it’s not a game, and we’re actually a little past the halfway mark of the first session of the 118th Congress, but as our federal legislature leaves for a two-week break, we’re catching our breath and figuring out just where we are.
House panel to vote on digital asset framework in July, says McCarthy
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson released a joint discussion draft of a statutory framework for digital assets earlier this month.
What’s next?
Now that the President has signed the bipartisan budget agreement, Congress can turn to other pressing business.
We need another hero after all
The icons of our fierce and optimistic youth need to stop leaving the stage. News reports say Tina Turner, who began as Anna Mae Bullock but became the Acid Queen, the Private Dancer, the queen of rock and roll — died on Wednesday at the age of 83. How is that possible? Immortals don’t die.
Some Like It Hot: Can A Financial ‘Cancer’ From The 1980s Help Prevent Bank Runs?
As bank failures rattle investors and test regulators, it's time to rethink America’s financial system. One old solution, despised by regulators, might be just what the doctor ordered.
X-date: still on or around June 1
Whatever happens, it won’t be a federal holiday. June 1 is still the date past which Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen may no longer be able to juggle the accounts in order to pay the government’s obligations.
Debt ceiling countdown
A week closer to June 1 — the possible X-date past which the US Treasury will no longer be able to meet its obligations in full — are negotiators closer to a deal to raise the debt ceiling? Maybe.
26 days and counting
Closer to 25, actually, once you get this. That may be all the time Congress has to raise the federal debt limit before the U.S. starts to default on its obligations, according to a letter Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen sent to Congressional leadership on Monday.
Remember the debt ceiling?
That thing we hit a couple of months ago, and will blow through for real without Congressional action in the immediate future?
World Bank and IMF’s Spring Meetings
Congress was out of town this week, but the streets of DC were full of limousines and Town Cars carrying participants in the World Bank and IMF’s Spring Meetings.
Don’t you just hate a slow news week?
Several things happened this week that we are unqualified to comment upon, so we’ll just say we are glad Congress is out of town for the next two weeks. We trust nothing newsworthy will happen between now and April 17.
Hey, got six million bucks we can borrow?
A Swiss auction house is accepting bids for a complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, starting at a mere 5,000,000 Swiss francs (just under $5.5 million USD). We probably don’t have room for it in the GrayRobinson DC office, but our building has a great roof terrace.
Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, when everyone in Washington is Irish or wants to be.
President submits FY 2024 budget
“Is this a joke?” House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) asked Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen at a hearing this morning.
Appropriations deadlines loom while rules change
Things were already a little frantic on Capitol Hill this week, even before House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger announced deadlines for member requests for fiscal year 2024.
House Financial Services schedules first markup
On Tuesday, the House Financial Services Committee will meet in person to mark up fourteen bills, including several bipartisan measures.
The House of Representatives was extremely busy this week
The House of Representatives was extremely busy this week, packing in hearings before a two-week break that begins as we write this. The Senate (traditionally a more deliberative body — just ask them) also held hearings this week, but they’ll be a little busier next week.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it . . . the Wizard?
At this writing, it’s hard to know how seriously to take the Chinese surveillance balloon that’s currently hovering at 60,000 above the center of the continental United States. It is, of course, an unacceptable violation of US airspace, as Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder said earlier today. And it’s already caused Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel his plans to visit Beijing.