Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee have sent letters to financial regulators asking them to rescind a variety of measures the regulators issued during the Biden Administration.

“These letters highlight the rules and guidance issued under the previous Administration that reduce competition and innovation and must be rescinded or significantly modified,” the GOP members said in a joint letter to the regulators.… Continue Reading

Chief Justice John Roberts has issued a temporary stay of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that barred the Trump Administration from firing members of two independent agency boards.

The stay follows a 7-4 appeals court decision that Cathy Harris, the chairwoman of the Merit Systems Protection Board, and Gwynne Wilcox, a member of the National Labor Relations Board, should return to their jobs.… Continue Reading

President Trump on Tuesday fired the remaining two Democratic members of the FTC, leaving only two Republicans on the commission.

The commissioners, Alvaro Bedoy and Rebecca Slaughter, announced their dismissals on social media. Both called their dismissals illegal, since the FTC is supposed to be an independent agency. Both of them called their firings illegal and Bedoy already has said he would challenge his dismissal in court.… Continue Reading

Saying that independent agencies “have exercised enormous power over the American people without Presidential oversight,” President Trump has issued an Executive Order placing those agencies under his control.

While Trump specifically mentioned the FTC, FCC and SEC, the definition of “agency” used in the order also includes such financial regulators as the FDIC, OCC, CFPB and NCUA.… Continue Reading

It is all but certain that Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., will chair the House Financial Services Committee in the next Congress. Hill was selected on December 12 by the House Republican steering committee, although his selection still must be approved by House Republicans in the next Congress. That approval is considered to be pro forma.… Continue Reading

Federal banking regulators are asking the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to lift a Texas court injunction barring implementation of new Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rules.

In asking the court to lift the injunction, the FDIC, OCC and Federal Reserve Board contend that U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk erred by finding that only the geographic area around a bank’s physical facilities should be taken into account when assessing the financial institution’s record of meeting community needs under the CRA.… Continue Reading

Congress must adjust to the demise of the Chevron Deference doctrine by drastically improving its regulatory expertise, witnesses told a House Committee on July 23.

“Congress must reclaim its lawmaking and rule-writing authority from the executive branch by marshaling appropriate resources and full-time personnel to perform regulatory oversight, including cost-benefit analysis and disclosures often neglected by the executive branch, sometimes in violation of law,” Clyde Wayne Crews Jr.,… Continue Reading

In a recent report, the Congressional Research Service stated that capital formation remains the largest obstacle hampering the formation of de novo banks, but regulatory and legislative changes that have been proposed could risk an increase in bank failures

“While each aspect of evaluating an application imposes a cost on the proposed bank, it is likely the capital considerations that present the largest cost and thus the biggest impediment to forming a new bank,” the CRS said in “De Novo Banks: Policy Issues for the 118th Congress.”… Continue Reading

A group of federal agencies have finalized reconsideration of value (ROV) guidance for residential real estate valuations. The agencies are the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Reserve Board (Board) and National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). The guidance will be effective upon publication in the Federal Register.… Continue Reading

Republicans on Capitol Hill have introduced legislation that would require a review of all federal court decisions, laws, regulations and legal cases that used the Chevron Deference Doctrine as the basis for decisions.

The introduction of those bills reflects Congress’s effort to adjust to the post-Chevron world. In that regard, some GOP members of Congress are pressing for a review of cases in which the Chevron Deference Doctrine was used.… Continue Reading