Key Highlights
- Treasury is implementing a new climate policy strategy that includes formation of a Climate Hub and appointment of a Climate Counselor that will report directly to the Treasury Secretary.
- Treasury is turning the Administration’s “whole of government” approach to climate change into a “whole of economy” approach, including economic/tax incentives to promote “green infrastructure” (electricity) in the US and abroad and steps to develop “reliable, consistent, and comparable disclosures” and new approaches to risk assessments.
- FTC is pursuing new legislation that will allow it to seek monetary relief for harmed consumers following a Supreme Court decision.
Financial services regulatory and policy news
Banking
- Federal banking agencies (FRB, OCC, FDIC):
- Proposed a rule to update and codify existing guidance on income tax allocation agreements involving depository institutions and affiliates
- OCC:
- Terminated its Portfolio Stress Test Tool for Income-Producing Commercial Real Estate
- FDIC:
- Spoke about mission-driven banks
- Proposed a rule regarding false advertising, misrepresentations about insured status, and misuse of its name or logo
- CFPB:
- Issued an interim final rule clarifying tenants can hold debt collectors accountable for illegal evictions
Capital Markets
- CFTC:
- Issued conditional relief from reporting fully collateralized binary option data to swap data repositories
- FINRA:
- Released a podcast on detecting, preventing, and reporting fraud in the broker-dealer industry
- Issued a notice on pre-dispute arbitration agreements in customer accounts
Other
- Congress:
- House:
- Passed seven financial services bills including the SAFE Banking Act of 2021, which would provide banking access to legitimate cannabis businesses, and the Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act of 2021, which would require SEC and CFTC to establish a working group on digital assets; the bills now move to the Senate for consideration
- FS Committee passed eight bills addressing racial equity, ESG disclosure, and debt collection
- Senate:
- Commerce Committee heard testimony on strengthening FTC authority to protect consumers; FTC consumer protection report
- Treasury:
- Announced its coordinated climate policy strategy with new Climate Hub and Climate Counselor
- Outlined its public/private approach to address climate change
- Spoke at the Leaders Summit on Climate
- FTC:
- Issued a statement on the Supreme Court ruling in AMG Capital LLC vs. FTC
- FHFA:
- Announced the extension of some temporary loan origination flexibilities until May 31
Insurance
- NAIC:
- Conducted its week-long 2021 International Fellows Program with 122 participating regulators
- IAIS:
- Conducted a Public Dialogue on the role of insurance in achieving Sustainable Development Goals
Industry news headlines
(Some links may require subscription)
- Supreme Court Cuts Federal Trade Commission Powers to Recover Ill-Gotten Gains (WSJ)
- Analysis: U.S. financial regulators in hot seat as Biden ramps up climate agenda (Reuters)
- Libor-Replacement Competitor Gains Strength From New Offerings (WSJ)
- Lawmakers fret over backdoor entry to banking for big companies (rollcall.com)
- Artificial Intelligence, Facial Recognition Face Curbs in New EU Proposal (WSJ)
- Financial Institutions Form Global Alliance to Fight Climate Change (ThinkAdvisor)
- European Union Aims for Clarity in Murky World of Sustainable Investing (WSJ)
- Ransomware Targeted by New Justice Department Task Force (WSJ)
