Congress is facing renewed pressure to provide hundreds of billions of dollars in “stimulus” money to states, territories, counties and municipalities and to allow such entities the option of using the money to offset revenue lost as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives has begun floor consideration of a … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Set to Choose Path for CHOICE Act as Senate Holds Hearing on Community Banking This week, the House is set to vote on H.R. 10, the Financial CHOICE Act of 2017 (CHOICE Act). After a contentious markup in the House Financial Services Committee last month, the bill was favorably voted out of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Banking to Vote on Treasury and Commerce Nominations This Week This week, on Tuesday, May 23, the Senate Banking Committee will vote on the nominations of several individuals to fill key posts within the Treasury and Commerce Departments (see below for additional details). Last week, Senate Banking Democrats concentrated on potential Trump … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Financial Services Committee to Hold Markup of CHOICE Act on Tuesday After much anticipation, House Financial Services Committee Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) introduced the Financial CHOICE Act of 2017 (CHOICE Act) last week following a contentious hearing on the bill. Unsurprisingly, the hearing revealed partisan differences over the effectiveness of the Dodd-Frank Wall … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Banking, House Financial Services Committees Set Sights on Financial Services Regulatory Reform With the first 100 days of the Trump Administration largely behind them, financial services lawmakers are beginning to move forward with their review of and efforts to reform the financial services sector. During the Senate Banking Committee’s hearing last week, Chairman … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity CHOICE Act 2.0 Could Be Weeks Away as GOP May Need to Resolve Differences While previous reports indicated that House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) was set to move on a revised version of the Financial CHOICE Act (CHOICE Act 2.0), his plan seems to have been met with delay. Though … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House to Vote on Financial Services Appropriations Bill as Hensarling Pushes Plan to Replace Dodd-Frank This week, the House is expected to consider the FY 2017 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, which passed out of Committee largely along partisan lines and contains various provisions that would peel back certain aspects of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Hensarling to Release Plan to Replace Dodd-Frank House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) is set to unveil details about the Republican plan to replace the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) with a “pro-growth” alternative during a speech to the Economic Club of New York on Tuesday, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congressional Republicans Place DOL’s Fiduciary Rule in Crosshairs Last week, on April 19, just one day after Senate Republicans introduced a resolution to disapprove and nullify the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Fiduciary Rule, House Republicans introduced a companion resolution also targeting the rulemaking. Two days later, on April 21, the House Education and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Agriculture Committee Votes to Reauthorize CFTC Following a Senate Appropriations hearing last week to review the FY17 Budget Requests for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), on Thursday, April 14, the Senate Agriculture Committee voted 11-9, to reauthorize the CFTC. Though the timing of Senate … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Lawmakers Still Divided on Labor’s Fiduciary Rule With the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Fiduciary Rule now with the Office of Management and Budget and being prepared for release in final form later this spring, last week Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) emphasized his opposition to the proposal, noting that he is … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Committees Mark-Up Fiduciary Rule Legislation as Senators Introduce Companion Bills With the Department of Labor (DOL) having recently submitted its Fiduciary Rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) – officially beginning the countdown before DOL’s proposal is released in final form – last week, the House Ways and Means and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress Turns Focus to Puerto Rico Debt Crisis This week, House lawmakers are set to hold a hearing on Puerto Rico’s debt crisis, which is likely to kick off several weeks’ worth of debate on the matter. Importantly, in accordance with House leadership, lawmakers are expected to move legislation addressing the Commonwealth’s fiscal … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate to Consider “Audit the Fed” Legislation as House Takes Up Another Bill on Terrorism Financing This week, Congress is set to take up two financial services bills. First, on Tuesday, January 12, following continued concern regarding the need for improved congressional oversight of the Federal Reserve, the Senate will take up S. … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Financial Services Lawmakers to Focus on FSOC, Hold Markup This week, the House Financial Services Committee will hold an oversight hearing on the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). Notably, eight of the ten voting members will be present to testify. This hearing follows continued discussion about potential reforms to the agency, which many … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Banking Committee in Talks on Compromise Reform Package After months of disagreement between Republicans and Democrats the release of Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) financial services reform legislation – S. 1484, the Financial Regulatory Improvement Act of 2015 – there appears to be an effort by moderate Democrats on Committee … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Likely to Take-Up Ex-Im Reauthorization, Legislation on DOL’s Fiduciary Rule After successfully getting enough signatures on his discharge petition to force a vote on reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank, it is expected that this week – possibly as early as today – Representative Stephen Fincher (R-TN) will bring up his petition, where … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Housing Policy in Spotlight as HUD Turns 50 This week the House Financial Services Committee will focus the majority of its attention on housing policy, as part of a look at the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) fifty-year anniversary. Financial services lawmakers will hold two hearings: one looking at the role … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity DOL’s Fiduciary Rule in Focus as SEC Announces Delay With many lawmakers still opposed to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Fiduciary Rule, this week both the House Financial Services and Ways and Means Committee will tackle the issue. The House Financial Services Committee will hold a markup on Wednesday of legislation to require … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Tax Reform Still in Ryan’s Sights Despite Boehner’s Departure Last week, following the sudden announcement by House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) that he would be stepping down from Congress at the end of October, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and various other Committee members quickly confirmed that the Committee … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Financial Services Lawmakers Hone in on Dodd-Frank Reform as Fifth-Year Anniversary Approaches As the fifth anniversary marking the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) arrives this Tuesday, July 21, financial services lawmakers are continuing to focus on ways to reform the law. On the House side, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Lawmakers Consider Dept. of Labor Proposed Fiduciary Rule Last week, the House Education and the Workforce Committee held its first hearing on the Department of Labor’s recently released Fiduciary Rule, which seeks to establish a new legal standard for brokers and require them to offer investors retirement advice that is in the investors’ best … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Banking Committee Schedules Markup on Regulatory Relief for Community and Regional Banks Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) has announced that the Committee will hold a markup on May 14 to consider proposals that would provide regulatory relief to community and regional banks. Despite earlier concerns to the contrary, it appears that Chairman Shelby … Continue Reading
