Key Highlights
- CFTC Chair and SEC Enforcement Director announced resignations.
- CFTC finalized rules impacting margin requirements, swap execution facilities, and electronic trading risk and bankruptcy provisions.
- CFPB finalized rules related to Qualified Mortgage Loans, including General QMs and a new category for Seasoned QMs.
- FinCEN issued new guidance on information sharing among financial institutions related to suspicious activity; the guidance permits the sharing of personally identifiable information without limitation.
Financial services regulatory and policy news
Banking
- Federal banking agencies (FRB, OCC, FDIC):
- Requested comment on revisions to the consolidated reports of condition and income
- Announced several resolution plan actions (FRB, FDIC only)
- FRB:
- Released guidance on the internal appeals process for material supervisory determinations
- Announced annual indexing of the reserve requirement exemption amount and the low reserve tranche
- Released its periodic report on lending facilities (PDCF, MMLF, CPFF, PPPLF)
- Released an economic research paper titled “Across the universe: Policy support for employment and revenue in the pandemic recession”
- CFPB:
- Finalized two rules related to Qualified Mortgage Loans, including a General QM and a Seasoned QM
Capital Markets
- SEC:
- Announced its Division of Enforcement Director will step down at the end of the year
- Published an expanded suite of data and analyses of private fund statistics
- Adopted rules to modernize key market infrastructure responsible for collecting, consolidating, and disseminating equity market data; released associated statement
- CFTC:
- Announced its chairman will resign early next year
- Announced further Brexit-related relief to provide market certainty
- Approved:
- Final rules related to margin requirements for uncleared swaps
- Two final rules related to SEFs
- Two final rules addressing electronic trading risk principles for DCMs experiencing market disruption and bankruptcy proceedings for commodity brokers
Other
- House Financial Services Committee:
- Issued recommendations on areas where the incoming Administration might reverse the actions of the current Administration
- Treasury/FinCEN:
- Released updated guidance clarifying permissible information sharing between financial institutions under the USA PATRIOT Act
- FTC:
- Released a blog post offering tips on recognizing and avoiding COVID-19 vaccine-related scams
- FHFA:
- Extended COVID-related loan flexibilities through January
- BIS:
- Released its Quarterly Review reporting, highlighted by vaccine news spurring valuations and eclipsing the uncertain outlook
- Published results of its latest Basel III monitoring exercise
- FSB:
- Announced virtual workshops on the implications of climate change for financial stability and the March market turmoil
- Discussed financial market developments and enhancing cross-border payments
- Provided a summary of outreach and Q&A about continuity of access to FMIs for firms in resolution
- NYFRB:
- Launched prequalification process for potential cash investment management services for CPFF
