Capitol Grounds

The banking industry warned Congress at a May 9 hearing of the House’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit that overregulation is “threatening the very existence of community banks.”

Testifying for the Independ

On a series of straight party-line votes, the House Financial Services Committee has approved $35 billion in spending cuts in the area of the committee’s jurisdiction. The amount exceeds the committee’s share of savings mandated by the House B

The House and Senate have given final approval to the JOBS Act (H.R. 3606, PRATT’S LETTER March 12 and 26). Among other provisions, the bill increases from 500 to 2,000 the number of shareholders a bank may have before it must register its stock

The Senate Banking Committee approved the nominations of Jerome Powell and Jeremy Stein to fill vacant seats on the Federal Reserve Board. The president’s pairing of Powell, a Republican investment executive, and Stein, a Democratic Harvard prof

The Senate joined the House in approving the JOBS Act (H.R. 3606, PRATT’S LETTER March 12), which increases from 500 to 2,000 the number of shareholders a bank may have before it must register its stock.

Senate approval came on a 73-26 v

In a rare show of bipartisanship, the House overwhelmingly approved the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act. The bill includes a provision that would raise from 500 to 2,000 the number of shareholders permitted to invest in a community bank

Testifying before the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, American Bankers Association COO Michael Hunter emphasized the need to make the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) more accountable for its actions.

Congress is again weighing how to finance the payroll tax holiday that took effect last year and was extended through the end of this month. Most members of Congress would like to further extend the holiday; after all, nobody wants a payroll tax h

Congress heard two different stories during the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit’s February 1 hearing on H.R. 3461 (the Financial Institutions Examination Fairness and Reform Act). Both banks and their regulators

Given the current political climate, it was inevitable that some bank-bashing might occur as part of the theatrics surrounding this year’s State of the Union Address.

Mortgage lenders were an expected target, and President Obama did not

The controversial recess appointment of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau gave some Congressional Democrats an idea. Why not use the same method to appoint a Director for the Federal Housing Financial Authority (FHFA

Congress created a bit more drama than necessary as it dithered over whether to pass an extension of the current payroll tax reduction. The temporary reduction was to have expired Dec. 31, but Congress ultimately approved a two-month extension, wi

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, has announced he will not run for reelection.  First elected to Congress in 1980, Frank said he would have quit last year, but he wanted to stay in Congress to

Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.) is urging Congress to enact stronger consumer financial protections for servicemembers. Reed’s proposal, which he says would close loopholes in existing protections, is in the form of a proposed amendment to a defense

In testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke rejected politicians’ efforts to influence monetary policy — even as he freely offered his advice on how Congress should get its own fiscal house in order.

Hard on the heels of a major security breach at Citibank, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has reintroduced the Personal Privacy Data and Security Act. Similar legislation was approved by the Judiciary Committee in 2005, 2007, and 2009, but was never bro

Something has to be done about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — everybody agrees on that. But what to do, that’s a trickier matter. At hearings on March 31, the House Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee began the proc

Senate Banking Committee lead Republican Richard Shelby (Ala.) launched a blistering attack on what he called the “global mortgage servicing settlement” now being considered by state and federal agencies. Shelby, who made his comments at the s

There are at least two things wrong with the massive report by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. First, there are actually two versions of the report — Republican and Democratic, as the commission divided neatly along party lines. (There

A dearth of bank lending is one of the biggest obstacles employers face right now, according to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.). But government, not banks, is primarily to blame for the lending drought. Bachus m