It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” – Henry David Thoreau In an October 27 episode of the Bond Buyer Podcast, our colleagues Rodney E. Slater (former US Secretary of Transportation) and Alethia Nancoo shared the opportunities that they see for the future of US highways, toll roads, railways … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Lawmakers Discuss FSOC Oversight On Wednesday, September 17, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing titled “Oversight of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.” During the hearing, Members emphasized the importance of transparency within the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and called for increased due process and accountability. At … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Financial Services Committee to Discuss Oversight of FSOC Following the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s (FSOC) unanimous decision on September 4 to preliminarily designate MetLife as a “systemically important” nonbank financial institution, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing to discuss oversight of the agency. Various lawmakers … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House To Vote On CFTC Reauthorization Bill This week, the House is expected to debate and vote on the reauthorization of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) through September 2018 (H.R. 4413). Additionally, while the Senate Agriculture Committee has yet to unveil its CFTC reauthorization bill, the level of bipartisan support that H.R. 4413 receives … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House to Vote on CFTC Reauthorization Bill This week, the House of Representatives is expected to take up H.R 4413, a bill that would reauthorize the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) through September 2018. On June 13, House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions(R-TX) asked Members to submit any amendments by Tuesday, June 15. The House bill would make several changes to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Confirms Three CFTC Commissioners, House To Take Up CFTC Reauthorization Bill On June 3, the Senate confirmed Timothy Massad as Chairman and Sharon Bowen and J. Christopher Giancarlo as Commissioners at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Chairman Massad was sworn in to his new office on June 5. It is expected … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Banking Committee to Markup TRIA Reauthorization Bill On Tuesday, June 3, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a markup of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2014 (S. 2244). The bill, which was introduced by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), has bipartisan support and would: (1) extend the current Terrorism Risk Insurance … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Banking Committee Likely to Markup GSE Reform Bill It appears as if the Senate Banking Committee is likely to hold a markup of legislation to reform the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), the “Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2013” (S. 1217), this week; however, given the fluid nature of the situation, the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Banking Committee Postpones Markup of GSE Reform Bill On Tuesday, April 29, the Senate Banking Committee announced that it was postponing the markup of legislation to reform the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), the “Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2013” (S. 1217). According to Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD), “[w]hile we have the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Banking Committee to Hold Markup of GSE Reform Bill and Vote on Nominations On Tuesday, April 29, the Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to hold a markup of the legislation to reform the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), released by Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo in March and based on … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Waters Introduces GSE Legislation On Thursday, March 27, House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) released a proposal to reform the Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs). Ranking Member Waters’ proposal, the HOME Forward Act of 2014, would wind down the GSEs and replace them with a new government agency that would oversee a fund … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity This Week’s Hearings: Tuesday, February 11: The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing titled, “Monetary Policy and the State of the Economy.” The Honorable Janet Yellen will testify at the hearing for the first time as Federal Reserve Board Chair. Thursday, February 13: The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress Examines A Series of Regulatory Reports Last week, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a hearing to explore the annual report and oversight of the Department of Treasury’s Office of Financial Research (OFR) and the House Financial Services Committee probed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity This Week’s Hearings: Tuesday, January 28: The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing titled, “The Semi-Annual Report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).” CFPB Director Richard Cordray will be the sole witness at the hearing. Tuesday, January 28: The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing titled, “The … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress Releases Volcker Fix Bills House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Representative Shelley Moore Capito, and four other House Republicans introduced the “Fairness for Community Job Creators Act” (H.R. 3819) last week, to exempt all banks, regardless of size, from divesting collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) backed by trust preferred securities (TruPS) under … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate to Move Forward with Confirmations The Senate is expected to vote on the confirmations of nominees Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC) to be Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and Janet Yellen to be Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, within the next two weeks, before the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Dodd-Frank Bills Unlikely to Get Senate Support Last week, the House passed two bills that would alter the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act); the first was H.R. 2374, a bill that would bill put restrictions on how and when the Department of Labor and the Securities and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Swaps Push Out and Fiduciary Duty Bills Likely To Get A House Vote This Week Two important bills are expected to be voted on by the House this week. The first is the commonly known “swaps push out” bill or H.R. 992. The House Financial Services Committee approved the bill in May and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Student Debit Cards Last Thursday, September 26, Democratic lawmakers, including Sens. Sherrod Brown (OH), Elizabeth Warren (MA), and Dick Durbin (IL), as well as Reps. George Miller (CA), Louise Slaughter (NY), Maxine Waters (CA) and Peter Welch (VT), sent letters to bank CEOs asking for information related to their agreements with institutions of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Student Loan Interest Rates A bipartisan group of senators, led Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), announced another agreement on student loan interest rates last week. The deal, which represents a new scheme that shifts to market-driven variable interest rates, was announced after Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) ultimately agreed to support it. According to reports, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Financial Services Committee Members Announce Bill on Housing Finance Reform House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) and Committee Members Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Randy Neugebauer (R-TX), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) announced their plans to introduce the “Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act” or PATH Act to reform housing finance. Highlights … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Student Loan Interest Rates The agreement reached on a student loan interest rate package last week has been disrupted after a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score estimated a $22 billion (over 10 years) cost to the proposal. A bipartisan group consisting of Democratic Senators Joe Manchin (WV), Tom Carper (DE), and Dick Durbin … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Administration Nominations to be Considered this Week On Thursday, June 27, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing to consider several of President Obama’s nominations, including Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC) to be Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA); Kara Stein and Mike Piwowar to be Commissioners at the Securities and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Tax Writing Committee Continues Meetings on Reform The Senate Finance Committee has continued its series of closed-door committee meetings on tax reform, recently issuing an options paper addressing charitable and tax-exempt organizations. The most recent paper is available here. The Committee’s paper on charitable and tax-exempt organizations was the ninth topic covered … Continue Reading
