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PH FedACTion: Financial Regulatory Updates

Daily Financial Regulation Update -- Friday, March 11, 2022

March 11, 2022

FedACtion Task Force

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Congress

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee on Financial Services

Waters Announces Committee Appropriations Provisions in 2022 Omnibus Legislation

March 9, 2022

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chair of the House Committee on Financial Services, announced the provisions championed by the Committee that have been included in the 2022 omnibus spending bill, including:

  • Division U – Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act – which establishes a legal and regulatory process for certain financial contracts that reference the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and do not contain sufficient language that would allow them to continue to function as originally intended after LIBOR is discontinued.
  • Division T – Credit Union Governance Modernization Act – which reforms the process governing expulsion of Federal credit union members.
  • Title III of Division HH – CARES Act Testimony – which reduces the frequency of testimony that the Treasury Secretary and the Chair of the Federal Reserve must testify before the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs through the end of 2027.
  • Title I of Division O – Flood Insurance – which extends the authorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through September 30, 2022.
  • Press Release

Federal Agencies

U.S. Department of the Treasury

Treasury and IRS Announce Plan to End Pandemic Inventory Backlog This Year

March 10, 2022

Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo and IRS Commissioner Charles P. Rettig outlined an aggressive plan that will end the pandemic backlog this year.

Speech: Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo Highlights Emergency Rental Assistance Programs

March 10, 2022

U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo spoke in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury's tour of American Rescue Plan programs this week.

Securities and Exchange Commission

Remarks at Meeting of the SEC Investor Advisory Committee

March 10, 2022

Chair Gary Gensler and Commissioner Hester M. Peirce issued remarks at the meeting of the SEC Investor Advisory Committee.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

New effort focused on financial issues facing rural communities

March 10, 2022

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has launched a new initiative to focus on financial issues facing rural America. The effort will initially focus on so-called rural banking deserts, discriminatory and predatory agricultural credit, and manufactured housing.

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

Financial Action Task Force Identifies Jurisdictions with Anti-Money Laundering, Combating the Financing of Terrorism, and Counter-Proliferation Deficiencies

March 10, 2022

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is informing U.S. financial institutions that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental body that establishes international standards to combat money laundering, counter the financing of terrorism, and combat weapons of mass destruction proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF), has issued public statements updating its lists of jurisdictions with strategic AML/CFT/CPF deficiencies following its plenary meeting this month.

U.S. Department of Labor

US Department of Labor cautions 401(k) plan fiduciaries to exercise extreme care as they consider cryptocurrencies

March 10, 2022

The U.S. Department of Labor has published compliance assistance for 401(k) plan fiduciaries considering plan investments in cryptocurrencies, in an effort aimed at protecting the retirement savings of U.S. workers.

Bank Policy Institute

BPI Statement in Response to Executive Order on Digital Assets

March 9, 2022

Bank Policy Institute President and CEO Greg Baer issued a statement in response to a Presidential Executive Order directing federal agencies to address the risks posed by digital assets, study how existing regulations and policies apply and further evaluate whether there's an appropriate role for central bank digital currency within the U.S. economy.

International

European Commission

State aid: Commission statement on consulting Member States on a proposal for a Temporary Crisis Framework to support the economy in context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine

March 10, 2022

The European Commission has sent to Member States for consultation a draft proposal for a State aid Temporary Crisis Framework to support the EU economy in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The draft proposal is based on Article 107(3)(b) TFEU, which allows aid to be granted to remedy a serious disturbance across the EU economy.

Administration Changes

Vacancies

Federal Reserve Board

  • Vice Chair for Supervision – Sarah Bloom Raskin nominated January 14, 2022 (nomination hearing held on February 3, 2022)
  • Governor – Lisa Cook nominated January 14, 2022
    (nomination hearing held on February 3, 2022)
  • Governor – Phillip Jefferson, nominated January 14, 2022
    (nomination hearing held on February 3, 2022)

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

  • Chair – Vacant (Martin Gruenberg serves as Acting Chair)
  • Vice Chairman

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

  • Comptroller – Vacant (Michael Hsu serves as Acting Comptroller)

Commodity Futures Commission

  • Three (3) Commissioner Vacancies

Appointments/Confirmation Hearings

U.S. Department of the Treasury - Janet Yellen (effective January 26, 2021)

Federal Reserve Board

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - Rohit Chopra (effective October 12, 2021)

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

Small Business Administration - Isabella Casillas Guzman (effective March 16, 2021)

Commodity Futures Trade Commission – Rostin Behnam (effective December 17, 2021)

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

National Credit Union Administration - Todd M. Harper

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - Marcia Fudge (effective March 10, 2021)

Federal Housing Finance Agency – Sandra L. Thompson

U.S. Department of Education - Dr. Miguel Cardona (effective March 2, 2021)

PH Client Alerts

Click here to read more from our Coronavirus series.

Legislation/Legislative Updates

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.