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PH FedACTion: Financial Regulatory Updates

Daily Financial Regulation Update -- Tuesday, March 30, 2021

March 30, 2021

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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 (effective March 16, 2021)

Commodity Futures Trade Commission

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 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

Chairman Brown: CDC Eviction Moratorium is “Essential”

March 29, 2021

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released a statement after Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Walensky announced an extension of the CDC eviction moratorium through June 30, 2021.

Federal Agencies

U.S. Department of the Treasury

Joint Statement on the U.S.-EU Joint Financial Regulatory Forum

March 29, 2021

The Department of the Treasury issued a release that notes that U.S. and European Union (EU) participants in the U.S.-EU Joint Financial Regulatory Forum met on March 24 and 25, 2021, to exchange views on topics of mutual interest as part of their ongoing financial regulatory dialogue. The meetings focused on six themes: (i) next steps in the COVID-19 recovery and mitigating financial stability risks, (ii) sustainable finance, (iii) multilateral and bilateral engagement in banking and insurance, (iv) regulatory and supervisory cooperation in capital markets, (v) regulatory and supervisory developments regarding financial innovation, and (vi) anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism issues.

Federal Reserve Board

Agencies Seek Wide Range of Views on Financial Institutions' use of Artificial Intelligence

March 29, 2021

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a joint release stating that they are gathering insight on financial institutions’ use of artificial intelligence (AI). The agencies seek information from the public on how financial institutions use AI in their activities, including fraud prevention, personalization of customer services, credit underwriting and other operations.

Speech: Treasury–Federal Reserve Cooperation and the Importance of Central Bank Independence

March 29, 2021

Christopher J. Waller, a newly-confirmed Governor at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, gave a speech at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C., titled “Treasury-Federal Reserve Cooperation and the Importance of Central Bank Independence.”

Suspension of Regulation D Examination Procedures

March 29, 2021

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System announced it is joining the other financial regulatory agencies in suspending its consumer compliance examiners’ use of the Regulation D Examination Procedures in light of last year’s interim final rule amending Regulation D to delete the six-per-month limit on convenient transfers from the “savings deposit” definition. 

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Who Pays What First? Debt Prioritization during the COVID Pandemic

March 29, 2021

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Liberty Street Economics blog released a post titled “Who Pays What First? Debt Prioritization during the COVID Pandemic.” The authors examine how consumers’ repayment priorities have evolved since the Great Recession.

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

New Report: Main Street Lending Program Added Substantially to the Credit Supply Available to Small and Medium-Sized Borrowers

March 29, 2021

The Main Street Lending Program (Program) was intended to foster the flow of credit to small and medium-sized businesses and nonprofit organizations so that they could continue to operate during the COVID-19 outbreak. According to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Program successfully served its purpose, especially with respect to smaller businesses, even though the Program used only a small fraction – $17.5 billion – of its capacity to facilitate $600 billion in loans.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Compliance Issues Related to Suspicious Activity Monitoring and Reporting at Broker-Dealers

March 29, 2021

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued an announcement titled “Compliance Issues Related to Suspicious Activity Monitoring and Reporting at Broker-Dealers.” The Division of Examinations (EXAMS) conducts examinations of broker-dealers and mutual funds regarding their compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) requirements. In sharing its observations from these examinations of broker-dealers, EXAMS is seeking to remind firms of their obligations under AML rules and regulations and to assist broker-dealers in reviewing and enhancing their AML programs, in particular their monitoring for and reporting of suspicious activity to law enforcement and financial regulators.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

CFPB Acting Director Uejio and FTC Acting Chairwoman Slaughter Issue Joint Statement on Preventing Illegal Evictions

March 29, 2021

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Acting Director Dave Uejio and Federal Trade Commission Acting Chairwoman Rebecca Slaughter issued a joint statement regarding their agencies’ work to help stop illegal evictions and protect American consumers facing economic hardship due to COVID-19.

FINRA

FINRA Investor Insight: Investing in a SPAC

March 29, 2021

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority released an Investor Insight titled “Investing in a SPAC,” which provides information on the basics of investing in a special purpose acquisition company or SPAC.

U.S. Department of Education

Education Department Announces Relief for Student Loan Borrowers with Total and Permanent Disabilities during the COVID-19 Emergency

March 29, 2021

The Department of Education announced relief for certain borrowers who have received student loan discharges due to total and permanent disability. The changes will ensure no borrowers are at risk of having their loans reinstated, meaning they would have to repay their debt, for failure to provide earnings information during the COVID-19 emergency.

International

Bank of England

Bank of England Policy on Operational Resilience of FMIs

March 29, 2021

The Bank of England issued a release discussing its operational resilience policy and documents it has published in efforts to put in place a stronger regulatory framework to promote the operational resilience of firms and financial market infrastructure firms.

The FCA and the Bank of England Encourage Market Participants in a Switch to SONIA in the Sterling Non-Linear Derivatives Market from May 11, 2021

March 29, 2021

The Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority issued a release encouraging liquidity providers in the sterling non-linear derivatives market to adopt new quoting conventions for inter-dealer trading based on SONIA instead of LIBOR from May 11, 2021.