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PH FedACTion: Financial Regulatory Updates

Daily Financial Regulation Update -- Friday, April 23, 2021

April 23, 2021

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Click here to read more from our Coronavirus series.

Administration Changes

Appointments/Confirmation Hearings

Department of the Treasury – Janet Yellen (effective January 26, 2021)

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – Rohit Chopra (Nominee)

Securities and Exchange Commission – Gary Gensler (effective April 17, 2021)

Small Business Administration – Isabel Guzman (effective March 16, 2021)

Commodity Futures Trade Commission

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

National Credit Union Administration – Todd M. Harper

Department of Housing and Urban Development – Marcia Fudge (effective March 10, 2021)

Department of Education – Dr. Miguel Cardona (effective March 2, 2011)

Congress

Click here to view the full text of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), Enacted March 27, 2020.

Click here to view the full text of the Paycheck Protection Program Increase Act of 2020, Enacted April 24, 2020.

Click here to view the full text of the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020, Enacted June 5, 2020.

Click here to view the full text of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Enacted December 27, 2020.  

Click here to view the full text of the American Rescue Plan of 2021, Enacted March 11, 2021.

Click here to view the full text of the PPP Extension Act of 2021, Enacted March 30, 2021.

Click here to view a running list of proposed legislation from the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, House Committee on Financial Services, and House Committee on Small Business.

U.S. Senate

Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

U.S. Senate Banking Committee Holds Hearing on Clean Energy Economy Opportunities

April 22, 2021

The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a hearing entitled, “21st Century Communities: Capitalizing on Opportunities in the Clean Energy Economy.”

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee on Financial Services

Committee Passes Legislation Aimed at Advancing Racial Equity, Protecting Consumers, Improving Public Company Disclosures; and sets Committee Priorities


April 21, 2021

The U.S. House Committee on Financial Services (Committee) passed eight bills, including legislation aimed at advancing racial and economic justice, promoting equity in the financial system, ensuring consumers are not exposed to abusive debt collection practices, and providing key material information to investors. The Committee by unanimous consent adopted resolutions to continue its review of issues at the intersection and technologies and to study artificial intelligence. The adopted bills include:

  • The Shareholder Political Transparency Act (H.R. 1087), which would require public companies to submit quarterly reports to both the SEC and investors detailing the amount, date, and nature of the company’s expenditures for political activities. The bill also requires public companies to disclose in their annual reports any political expenditures over $10,000 in the previous year as well as the nature and amount of any political expenditures the company plans to make in the upcoming year.
  • The ESG Disclosure Simplification Act (H.R. 1187), which would require issuers to disclose certain environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics to shareholders, the connection between those metrics and the issuer’s long term business strategy, and the method by which the issuer determines how ESG metrics impact its long term strategy.
  • The Improving Corporate Governance Through Diversity Act (H.R. 1277, which would require public companies to annually disclose the voluntarily, self-identified gender, race, ethnicity and veteran status of their board directors.
  • The Diversity and Inclusion Data Accountability and Transparency Act (H.R. 2123), which would require regulated entities to disclose diversity data, policies and practices to their respective federal financial regulators.
  • The Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in Banking Act (H.R. 2516), which would require Federal banking regulators to include a diversity and inclusion component in the CAMELS rating system to evaluate how federally insured depository institutions are promoting diversity and inclusion.
  • The Federal Reserve Racial and Economic Equity Act (H.R. 2543), which would require the Federal Reserve to carry out its duties in a manner that supports the elimination of racial and ethnic disparities in employment, income, wealth and access to affordable credit.
  • The Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act (H.R. 2547), which would strengthen protections for small business lending, ensure fair debt collection for servicemembers, advocate on behalf of consumers with student and medical debt, end debt collection harassment and abuse, and create guardrails for consumers against private debt collectors.
  • News Release

Federal Agencies

Department of the Treasury

Treasury, IRS, BFS Announce Two Million Economic Impact Payments

April 22, 2021

The U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service announced they are disbursing nearly two million payments in the sixth batch of Economic Impact Payments from the American Rescue Plan.

Treasury Secretary Yellen Issues Remarks at Leaders Summit on Climate

April 22, 2021

Janet L. Yellen, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, issued remarks at the Leaders Summit on Climate. In her remarks, Secretary Yellen focused on the questions of how nations can best reduce emissions while supporting economic development and growth, and how governments should target public sector climate finance to mobilize the greatest private sector investments.

Federal Reserve Board
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Agencies Propose Rule for Income Tax Allocation Agreements

April 22, 2021

The federal bank regulatory agencies – the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency – invited comment on a proposed rule that updates and codifies existing guidance on income tax allocation agreements involving depository institutions and their affiliates.

Conference of State Bank Supervisors

CSBS Blog Post Explores Latest Information on Climate Risk Management

April 22, 2021

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) published a blog post entitled, “Climate Risk Management: The Latest Information,” in which the CSBS explored recent steps taken by federal regulatory agency leaders towards understanding the financial risks associated with climate risk.

CSBS Blog Post Examines Networked Supervision

April 22, 2021

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) published a blog post entitled, “Networked Supervision: The Evolution of State Regulation,” in which the CSBS explored Networked Supervision, a dynamic strategy for supervision adopted by state financial regulators that harnesses technology and harmonizes efforts.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

FDIC Issues Proposed Rule Regarding False Advertising, Insured Status Misrepresentations, and Misuse of FDIC’s Name, Logo

April 22, 2021

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a proposed rule implementing its statutory authority to prohibit any person or organization from making misrepresentations about FDIC deposit insurance or misusing the FDIC’s name or logo.

FDIC Releases Working Paper on Private Equity and Financial Stability

April 22, 2021

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Center for Financial Research released a working paper entitled, “Private Equity and Financial Stability: Evidence from Failed Bank Resolution in the Crisis”. In sum, the FDIC found that private equity (PE) investors had a positive role in stabilizing the financial system in the 2008 crisis through their involvement in failed bank resolution. The FDIC found that PE investors made substantial investments in underperforming and riskier failed banks and that PE investors helped channel capital to underperforming failed banks when the “natural” potential bank acquirers were themselves constrained, filling the gap created by a weak, undercapitalized banking sector. The FDIC also found that PE-acquired banks performed better ex post, with positive real effects for local economies.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

CFTC Staff Issues Conditional Relief from Reporting Fully Collateralized Binary Option Data to Swap Data Repositories

April 22, 2021

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced that the Division of Data, the Division of Market Oversight, and the Division of Clearing and Risk have provided no-action relief to KalshiEX LLC, a designated contract market, and LedgerX, LLC, a derivatives clearing organization, from reporting to swap data repositories, data for binary option transactions executed on or subject to the rules of Kalshi and cleared by LedgerX. The no-action relief also exempts Kalshi and LedgerX from certain related recordkeeping requirements, and is consistent with staff-level relief previously provided to other similarly situated designated contract markets and derivatives clearing organizations.

National Credit Union Association

NCUA Board Briefed on Emerging Cybersecurity Threats, PCA Relief Measures

April 22, 2021

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board held its fourth open meeting of 2021 and was briefed on two matters: current cybersecurity events and trends affecting federally insured credit unions and the broader financial system; and an interim final rule that temporarily modifies two areas of NCUA’s prompt corrective action regulations.

U.S. Small Business Administration

SBA Announces First-of-Its-Kind Technology Initiative for Restaurant Revitalization Fund

April 22, 2021

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced the first round of technology partners participating in a new initiative for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), a program that will allow eligible restaurants and other food establishments to access the RRF application or data they need to fill out the application through their trusted point-of-sale service providers.

Department of Housing and Urban Development/Federal Housing Administration

HUD Withdraws Proposed Rule

April 22, 2021

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge announced that HUD is withdrawing the previous administration’s proposed rule that would have weakened the Equal Access Rule, which ensures that all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, have equal access to HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development programs, shelters, other buildings and facilities, benefits, services and accommodations.

Department of Labor

Labor Department Issues News Release on Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims

April 22, 2021

The U.S. Department of Labor issued a news release regarding weekly unemployment insurance claims. The release states that, in the week ending April 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 547,000, a decrease of 39,000 from the previous week’s revised level (and the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000); the previous week’s level was revised up by 10,000 from 576,000 to 586,000; the four-week moving average was 651,000, a decrease of 27,750 from the previous week’s revised average (and the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500); and the previous week’s average was revised down by 4,250 from 683,000 to 678,750.

State Agencies

California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation

California DFPI Hosts Inaugural Economic Equity Conference

April 21, 2021

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation hosted its inaugural Economic Equity Conference, drawing more than 450 banking executives and senior regulators from across the state and unveiling its first-ever Survey of Diversity in State Banking.

International

Bank of England

Bank Issues Cash Ratio Deposits Statistical Notice

April 22, 2021

The Bank of England issued a Statistical Notice regarding Cash Ratio Deposits.

Bank of England Prudential Regulation Authority

PRA Issues Statement on Remuneration Benchmarking and Remuneration High Earners Reporting Templates

April 22, 2021

The Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) issued a statement advising firms on the PRA’s approach to the Remuneration Benchmarking and Remuneration High Earners reporting templates, as part of the EBA’s Taxonomy 2.10.