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PH FedACTion: Financial Regulatory Updates

Daily Financial Regulation Update -- Saturday, March 19, 2022

March 19, 2022

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Congress

U.S. Senate

Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

Brown Statement on Removal of Medical Debt From Credit Reports

March 18, 2022

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, issued a statement after the nation's largest credit-reporting firms—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—announced they would remove most medical debt from credit reports; the changes came after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it would hold bureaus accountable for inaccurate reports.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee on Financial Services

Committee on Financial Services Passes Legislation in Response to Crisis in Ukraine

March 17, 2022

The House Financial Services Committee passed five bills to suspend Ukraine's debt obligations, crack down on Russian oligarchs for evading existing sanctions, deny Putin economic resources and access to financial markets, and isolate Russia from major financial and intergovernmental forums. Four of the bills passed on a bipartisan basis.

  • H.R. 7080, the Nowhere to Oligarchs' Assets Act, which will help the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and law enforcement detect Russian oligarchs who are participating in money laundering techniques to hide their money, avoid scrutiny, and evade our sanctions.
  • H.R. 7066, the Russia and Belarus Financial Sanctions Act, which will clarify that foreign subsidiaries of U.S. financial institutions must comply with American sanctions against Russia and Belarus.
  • H.R. 7081, the Ukraine Comprehensive Debt Repayment Relief Act, which directs the Department of the Treasury to use its influence at the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, other multilateral development banks, and with private creditors to press for the suspension of all debt owed by Ukraine and for financial assistance to Ukraine and the countries along its borders taking in refugees.
  • H.R. 6891, the Isolate Russian Government Officials Act, which seeks to exclude Russian government officials from the G-20, Financial Stability Board, and other international standard-setting and economic cooperation bodies.
  • H.R. 6899, the Russia and Belarus SDR Exchange Prohibition Act¸ which seeks to deprive Russia and Belarus from converting their holdings of Special Drawing Rights for hard currency.
  • Press Release

Federal Agencies

Federal Reserve Board

Paper: The Natural Rate of Interest Through a Hall of Mirrors

March 18, 2022

The Federal Reserve staff released a Finance and Economic Discussion Series paper proposing informational feedback via learning as an alternative explanation for persistently low rates, where monetary policy plays a crucial role.

Paper: Are Manufacturing Jobs Still Good Jobs? An Exploration of the Manufacturing Wage Premium

March 18, 2022

The Federal Reserve staff released a Finance and Economic Discussion Series paper exploring the factors behind differences in wages between manufacturing and other sectors.

Paper: A Journey in the History of Sovereign Defaults on Domestic-Law Public Debt

March 18, 2022

The Federal Reserve staff released a research paper introducing a novel database on sovereign defaults that involve public debt instruments governed by domestic law.

Speech: Welcoming Remarks

March 18, 2022

Governor Bowman gave the welcoming remarks at Fed Listens: Helping Youth Thrive—A Discussion with Leaders, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

U.S. Economy in a Snapshot

March 18, 2022

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released the March 2022 U.S. Economy in a Snapshot showing that the unemployment rate fell, real disposable income continued to trend down, consumer spending on goods rebounded, and inflation remained elevated.

Underlying Inflation Gauge (UIG)

March 18, 2022

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York published its February 2022 Underlying Inflation Gauge (UIG). The UIG measure for February is currently estimated at 4.8%, a 0.1 percentage point increase from the previous month.

Report: The Global Dash for Cash: Why Sovereign Bond Market Functioning Varied across Jurisdictions in March 2020

March 18, 2022

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York staff released a report showing that market disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic occurred disproportionately in the U.S. Treasury market and were due to investors' selling pressures being far more pronounced and broad-based.

Report: Money Market Fund Vulnerabilities: A Global Perspective

March 18, 2022

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York staff released a report examining Money Market Fund (MMF) runs that have occurred in many countries and under many regulatory regimes since 2000. The global pattern of runs and crises shows that MMF vulnerabilities are not unique to a particular set of governing arrangements, and that mitigating these vulnerabilities requires fundamental reforms that either place MMFs more clearly within the investment-fund sector or establish protections for MMFs similar to those for deposits.

The New York Fed DSGE Model Forecast—March 2022

March 18, 2022

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's (FRBNY) Liberty Street Economics blog released an update of the economic forecasts generated by the FRBNY's dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model. The post describes the forecast and its change since December 2021.

International

European Banking Authority

EBA publishes revised Guidelines on common procedures and methodologies for the supervisory review and evaluation process

March 18, 2022

The European Banking Authority published its final revised Guidelines on common procedures and methodologies for the supervisory review and evaluation process and supervisory stress testing.

Bank of England

Market Participants Survey results – March 2022

March 18, 2022

The Bank of England released the results of their March 2022 survey of expectations for monetary policy from experts in UK rates markets.

Minutes of the London FXJSC Main Committee Meeting - 23 November 2021

March 18, 2022

The Bank of England chairs the London Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee (FXJSC), which is a forum for discussion of the wholesale foreign exchange market. The FXJSC is made up of market participants, infrastructure providers and the UK financial regulators. The FXJSC released minutes from the Main Committee meeting on November 23, 2021.

Minutes of the London FXJSC Legal Sub-Committee Meeting - 16 November 2021

March 18, 2022

The Bank of England chairs the London Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee (FXJSC) Legal Sub-Committee which is made up of market participants, infrastructure providers and the UK financial regulators. The FXJSC released minutes from the November 16, 2021 Legal Sub-Committee meeting.

Minutes of the London FXJSC Operations Sub-Committee Meeting - 17 November 2021

March 18, 2022

The Bank of England chairs the London Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee (FXJSC) Operations Sub-Committee which is made up of market participants, infrastructure providers and the UK financial regulators. The FXJSC released minutes from the November 17, 2021 Operations Sub-Committee meeting.

UK Financial Conduct Authority

Research Note: Do consumers understand the risks associated with different ways of saving?

March 18, 2022

The Financial Conduct Authority released a paper, using the FCA's latest Financial Lives survey to explore the extent to which consumers understand the risks and potential returns associated with different ways of saving.

Administration Changes

Vacancies

Federal Reserve Board

  • Vice Chair for Supervision – Vacant
  • Governor – Lisa Cook nominated January 14, 2022
    (nomination hearing held on February 3, 2022; committee approval March 16, 2022)
  • Governor – Phillip Jefferson, nominated January 14, 2022
    (nomination hearing held on February 3, 2022; committee approval March 16, 2022)

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

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

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.