U.S. Regulatory Week Ahead
The Elections Bring a Shock Wave to the Washington Regulatory Outlook, New Leaders on Key Congressional Committees, and Who Will President-Elect Trump Pick as His Regulators?
November 11 - 15, 2024
What a week it was. Everyone expected it to be a close presidential race, but it was not, as President-elect Trump ended up sweeping all seven of the swing states and winning 329 electoral votes. Republicans also saw a bigger pick-up of seats in the Senate and, as of this writing, appear on track to retain control of the House of Representatives by the slimmest of margins.
With these election results comes a vastly different scenario for financial regulation in 2025 – 2026. We expect all the major regulatory chiefs – SEC, CFTC, OCC, FDIC, etc. – to step down as President-elect Trump moves quickly to nominate and get the Republican-controlled Senate to confirm his nominees quickly. Gone will be much of the SEC’s efforts on climate-related regulation, and almost certainly, the Federal Reserve Board-led effort to implement Basel III rules will at least be put on ice if not outright disregarded.
The elections also bring significant change to three of the four major regulatory oversight committees. We will see a new chair of the Senate Banking Committee following the defeat of current chair, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) – the new chair most likely Senator Tim Scott (R-SC). But we will also see arch-activist Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) move up to become the Ranking Democrat on the Banking Committee.
Also, in the Senate, we expect Senator John Boozman (R-AK) to become the new chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee and oversee the CFTC.
In the House of Representatives, there will be a new chair of the House Financial Services Committee—either Representative French Hill (R-AK) or Andy Barr (R-KY).
But the big question now is who President-elect Trump will pick as his new regulatory head? No one knows yet, but we expect Trump to move quickly to nominate his cabinet, subcabinet, and key regulatory heads. We will be offering special reports on those nominations as they are announced.
Meanwhile, below is a listing of all the other significant regulatory-related events this coming week. There is nothing major going on other than Federal Reserve Board Chair Jay Powell speaking at the Dallas Fed on Thursday and SEC Chair Gensler gives two speeches. We predict that most of the regulatory agencies are assessing what – if anything – they can accomplish between now and the January 20 inauguration. Some may try to push through some last-minute regulatory priorities. Still, our guess is most of the agencies will stand down and prepare to hand over control to whomever the President-elect nominates as the respective new regulatory head.
U.S. Congressional Hearings
U.S. Senate
· The Senate returns to work this week. Republican senators will choose a new Majority Leader as Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has announced his intention to step back from the role. Currently, the race is between Senator John Thune (R-SD) and John Cornyn (R-TX).
· Thursday, November 14, 10:00 a.m. – The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing on the Nominations of Deva A. Kyle to be director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and David Samuel Johnson to be inspector general for tax administration in the Treasury Department.
House of Representatives
· The House returns to work this week. House Republicans will vote on their leadership – and whether to keep current Speaker of the House Michael Johnson (R-LA) as many outstanding House elections are yet to be called and control of the House majority remains uncertain.
Federal Department & Regulatory Agency Meetings & Events
Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks
· Tuesday, November 12, 10:00 a.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller
Gives a speech at The Clearing House Annual Conference, New York, New York
· Thursday, November 14, 7:00 a.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Adriana D. Kugler gives a speech at the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA) and the Latin American Chapter of the Econometric Society 2024 Meeting, Departamento de Montevideo, Uruguay.
· Thursday, November 14, 3:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. Powell gives a speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
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
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Small Business Administration
· Wednesday, November 13, 10:30 a.m. – The Small Business Administration holds a virtual meeting of the SBA Investment Capital Advisory Committee to discuss institutional investment market trends, innovation, and policy impacting small businesses and their ability to access patient capital.
Securities and Exchange Commission
· Tuesday, November 12, 8:00 a.m. – Yahoo holds its 2024 Finance Invest Conference, beginning at 8 a.m. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler delivers remarks on "Investing in Regulatory Frameworks."
· Wednesday, November 13 – 9:00 a.m. – The SEC holds its Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee meeting.
· Thursday, November 14 — The Practicing Law Institute (PLI) 56th Annual Institute on Securities Regulation will hold its conference in New York. SEC Chair Gary Gensler will give remarks.
· Thursday, November 14, 2:00 p.m. – The SEC holds a Closed Meeting.
Commodities Futures Trading Commission
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
· Wednesday, November 13, 9:00 a.m. – The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation holds a meeting of the FDIC Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion. The agenda includes Updates from committee members about key challenges facing their communities or organizations; Presentations and panel discussions on qualitative research regarding consumer perceptions of banks and non-bank financial services firms; FDIC's proposed rulemaking on recordkeeping for custodial deposit accounts with transactional features; and Review of results from the 2023 FDIC National Survey of the Unbanked and Underbanked Households
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
· Tuesday, November 12, 2:00 p.m. – The FTC holds a conference on Identity Theft and College Students.
· Thursday & Friday November 14 & 15 – The FTC holds its 17th Annual Microeconomics Conference in Washington, D.C.
· Thursday, November 14, 11:00 a.m. – The FTC holds an Open Meeting.
Farm Credit Administration
· Thursday, November 14, 10:00 a.m. – The Farm Credit Administration holds a meeting for a report on access to capital in Indian country.
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, November 12 – The Investment Company Institute holds its annual Closed-End Fund conference in New York.
· Tuesday – Friday, November 12-15 – The American Bankers Association hods its annual Agricultural Bankers Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Think Tanks and Other Events
Nothing of significance is scheduled at this time.
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