U.S. Financial Regulatory Week Ahead
Washington Gets Ready for IMF/World Bank Week, The FDIC’s Look at the Resolution of Systemically Important Banks, and HUD Looks at the Mortgage Market and Access to Capital
October 14 - 18, 2024
It is going to be another relatively quiet week in Washington across the board – Congress remains out of session until after the elections, and regulators are quietly preparing for the annual International Monetary Fund/World Bank weeklong meetings that begin on October 21st. With finance ministers, central bankers, and other major regulatory officials converging on Washington for back-to-back meetings, speeches, and events, there will likely be a lot to watch and report (which we will detail in next week’s report).
We would note that that The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation holds a meeting of the FDIC Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee to discuss the resolution of systemically important financial companies. This continues to be a moving target for bank regulators as banks and Congressional Republicans push back on expanding the definitions for “systemically important.”
Also, this coming week, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is partnering with Ginnie Mae to host a conference looking at the mortgage market and access to capital. With the housing market nationally struggling with still too-high interest rates and a shortage of housing inventory – an issue that has become a hot-button issue on the presidential and congressional campaign trails – this will be a particularly interesting event. In addition to this, House Financial Services Committee Ranking Democrat Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) said in an interview last week that if Democrats win control of the House in November and she becomes Committee chair again, her number one priority issue will be housing.
Last week, regulators, lobbyists, and everyone else who follows the banking sector were jarred to see TD Bank hit with a $3 billion fine and agreed to asset caps after submitting a guilty plea for money laundering by drug traffickers. As the 10th largest bank in the U.S., the size and impact of the penalties are pretty significant.
Also last week, the digital asset exchange Crypto.com sued the Securities and Exchange Commission after learning they are the target of potential charges by the agency. Crypto argued in their lawsuit that the SEC has no authority over their business or the crypto business overall, saying the agency is acting under “an unlawful de factor rule.” This will be a very interesting case, especially in light of the Supreme Court’s Chevron decision earlier this year clipping the wings of aggressive regulatory actions.
Finally, and perhaps most impactful to markets, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division jointly released their final version of Hart-Scott-Rodino rules (e.g., new rules dealing with mergers and acquisitions). One aspect of the rules that private equity and other acquisition firms took note of is how the regulators want to look at how Big Tech firms and private equity are acquiring large amounts of smaller companies in a bid to snuff out oncoming competition potentially.
Below is a listing of all the other significant regulatory-related events this coming week:
U.S. Congressional Hearings
U.S. Senate
· The Senate is in Pro Forma session and not returning to work until after the election. No work and no hearings are scheduled. They will return to work on November 12.
House of Representatives
· The House is out of session until after the November elections. No business or hearings are scheduled. They will return to work on November 12.
US Regulatory Meetings & Events
Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks
· Tuesday, October 15, 1:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Adriana Kugler gives remarks virtually entitled “Career Opportunities and Diversity in Economics” at the Exploring Careers in Economics event hosted by the Federal Reserve.
· Friday, October 18, 12:10 p.m. (Vienna, Austria) – Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher J. Waller gives remarks entitled “Decentralized Finance” at the Nineteenth Annual Vienna Macroeconomics Workshop in Vienna, Austria.
U.S. Treasury Department
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Department of Commerce
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Department of Housing and Urban Development
· Tuesday, October 15, 8:30 a.m. – HUD and Ginnie Mae will host a strategic summit on "Mortgage Market Resilience and Access to Credit." Participants include am Valverde, acting president of Ginnie Mae; Daniel Hornung, special assistant to the president for economic policy at the National Economic Council; Julia Gordon, assistant HUD secretary for housing and Federal Housing Administration commissioner; Bob Broeksmit, president/CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association; David Dworkin, president/CEO of the National Housing Conference; Ted Tozer, fellow in the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute and former Ginnie Mae President.
Securities and Exchange Commission
· Tuesday, October 15, 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. – SIFMA will hold its annual Private Credit Forum. SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce will deliver remarks.
· Thursday, October 17, 2:00 p.m. – The SEC will hold a Closed Meeting.
Commodities Futures Trading Commission
· Tuesday, October 15, 6:00 p.m. – CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero will receive the Pioneer Award from the Asian Pacific American Bar Association (APABA) of Washington, D.C. at the Annual Gala.
· Wednesday, October 16, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. – The CFTC’s The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Clearing and Risk will hold a public roundtable Oct. 16 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., to discuss existing, new, and emerging issues in clearing. The roundtable will be held in the Conference Center at CFTC's headquarters at Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street N.W., Washington, D.C.
· Wednesday, October 16, 11:00 a.m. – CFTC Commissioner Caroline D. Pham will speak on a keynote fireside chat at FIX Trading Community’s Americas Trading Conference 2024 in New York.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
· Tuesday, October 15, 9:00 a.m. – The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation holds a meeting of the FDIC Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee to discuss the resolution of systemically important financial companies.
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
FINRA
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
National Credit Union Administration
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Federal Trade Commission & Department of Justice Antitrust Division
· Friday, October 18, 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. – The FTC hosts the Second Federal Trade Commission Conference on Marketing and Public Policy in Washington, D.C.
Farm Credit Administration
· Thursday, October 10, 10:00 a.m. – The Farm Credit Administration holds a board meeting. They are scheduled to vote on a proposed rule dealing with Annual Independent Audits and Internal Controls over Financial Reporting Requirements
Farm Credit Insurance Corporation
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
International Monetary Fund & World Bank
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
North American Securities Administrators Association
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Trade Associations & Think Tank Events
Trade Associations
· Tuesday, October 15, 9:00 a.m. – The Institute for International Finance holds a hybrid forum on the IMF’s Global Financial Stability Report.
· Tuesday, October 15, 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. – SIFMA will hold its annual Private Credit Forum. SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce will deliver remarks.
· Thursday, October 17, 8:00 a.m. – The Brookings Institution holds an event entitled “Meeting the global climate finance challenge: A conversation with UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell” in Washington, D.C.
Think Tanks and Other Events
· Sunday and Monday, October 13 – 14 - Stanford University's Hoover Institution holds a conference, beginning at 11:05 a.m., on "A 50-Year Retrospective on The Shadow Open Market Committee and Its Role in Monetary Policy” in Stanford, California. Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller will deliver remarks.
· Friday, October 17, 12:00 p.m. – The Urban Institute holds a discussion on "Sustainable Homeownership and Wealth Preservation for Communities of Color."
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