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PH FedACTion: Financial Regulatory Updates

Daily Financial Regulation Update -- Friday, January 29, 2020

January 29, 2021

FedACTion Task Force

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PH Client Alerts

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 (Nominee)

Small Business Administration – Isabel Guzman (Nominee)

Department of Education – Miguel Cardona (Nominee)

Commodity Futures Trade Commission

National Credit Union Administration – Todd M. Harper

Department of Housing and Urban Development – Marcia Fudge (Nominee)

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 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. House of Representatives

Committee on Financial Services

Chairwoman Waters Announces Hearing on Short Selling, Online Trading Platforms

January 28, 2021

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, announced that she would convene a hearing to examine the recent activity around GameStop stock and other impacted stocks with a focus on short selling, online trading platforms, gamification and their systemic impact on capital markets and retail investors.

Federal Agencies

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

FRBNY Announces Blog Series on COVID-19’s Impact on Labor Market Across Income, Age and Race

January 28, 2021

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) announced that on February 9, the FRBNY’s Liberty Street Economics blog will release a three-part series exploring how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted labor market outcomes, including heterogeneity based on income, age and race.

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

OCC Imposes a Hold on its Own Fair Access Rule

January 28, 2021

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is pausing publication of its rule seeking to require that large banks provide all customers access to their services. The rule, initially proposed in November 2020 and finalized immediately before President Biden’s inauguration, codified agency guidance that banks should conduct risk assessments of individual customers, rather than make broad-based decisions affecting whole categories or classes of customers, when providing access to services, capital and credit. The effect of the fair access rule was to prevent large banks from refusing to lend to groups in politically-sensitive industries, such as guns and energy.

Pausing publication of the final rule in the Federal Register will allow President Biden’s yet to be-nominated and Senate-confirmed Comptroller of the Currency to review the final rule and the public comments the OCC received.

National Credit Union Association

NCUA to Host Webinar on Treasury’s Emergency Capital Investment Program

January 28, 2021

The National Credit Union Administration announced that on February 3 at 2 p.m. Eastern, it will host a webinar designed to provide eligible credit unions with information regarding the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Emergency Capital Investment Program.

Department of Housing and Urban Development/Federal Housing Administration

HUD Takes Actions Aimed at Supporting Homeowners, and Addressing Housing Crisis

January 28, 2021

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) took several actions designed to address immediate housing needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the extension of eviction and foreclosure moratoriums and extension of a mortgage payment forbearance request deadline for borrowers with FHA-insured mortgages.

Department of Labor

Labor Department Issues News Release on Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims

January 28, 2021

The U.S. Department of Labor issued a News Release regarding weekly unemployment insurance claims. The News Release states that, in the week ending January 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 847,000, a decrease of 67,000 from the previous week’s revised level; the previous week’s level was revised up by 14,000 from 900,000 to 914,000; the four-week moving average was 868,000, an increase of 16,250 from the previous week’s revised average; and, the previous week’s average was revised up by 3,750 from 848,000 to 851,750.

International

Bank of England

Bank Issues Market Notice Providing Update on Covid Corporate Financing Facility

January 28, 2021

This Bank of England released a Market Notice providing an update on how Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) issuers’ credit quality will be monitored and reviewed in advance of the closure of the CCFF.

UK Financial Conduct Authority

FCA Asks Banks to Reconsider Branch Closures during COVID-19 Lockdown

January 28, 2021

The UK Financial Conduct Authority, following the recent announcement by the UK government of new restrictions due to COVID-19, announced that firms should consider pausing or delaying new branch closures if possible, particularly where closures could have a significant impact on vulnerable customers.