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☆ New York Attorney General Letitia James leads multistate effort defending CFPB to the Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading a multistate effort to urge the Supreme Court to overturn a decision that threatens the existence of the nation's leading consumer protection agency. Attorneys general in 22 other states and the District of Columbia joined New York in an amicus brief filing to the court Tuesday in support of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The brief comes a day after dozens of current and former Democratic lawmakers filed a separate amicus brief defending the agency. The Supreme Court agreed in February to hear arguments after the Biden administration appealed the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals' decision that the CFPB's funding method is unconstitutional. If the Supreme Court decides not to overturn the 5th Circuit's ruling, it could invalidate "numerous CFPB rules and other regulatory actions" and harm millions of Americans while destabilizing the consumer financial sector, the attorneys general said in a statement.

☆ Dozens of Democrats defend CFPB at Supreme Court as case threatens its existence
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — Over 140 current and former Democratic lawmakers filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court on Monday to defend the country's leading consumer protection agency from challenges to its regulatory authority. Brown chairs the Senate Banking Committee while Waters is the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee. The Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in the case in February, four months after a federal appeals court panel unanimously ruled that the CFPB's funding method was unconstitutional. The Biden administration appealed the 5th Circuit's decision to the Supreme Court, but a final decision could be delayed until June 2024 to hear other arguments in the case. In the brief, lawmakers said succinctly that "the judgment should be reversed."

Aaron Smith, CEO of the National Cannabis Industry Association, speaks during a news conference on the Safe Banking Act outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Sept. 14, 2022. The Senate banking committee is holding its first-ever hearing Thursday on a bipartisan bill that would allow the cannabis industry to access traditional banking services, which marijuana businesses see as critical to their survival. The meeting, titled Examining Cannabis Banking Challenges of Small Businesses and Workers, will hear testimony from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including Sens. Thursday's hearing will determine next steps in getting the bill to the Senate floor for a vote, as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other key lawmakers express support for it. "Without full access to the banking and payments system, legal cannabis businesses are forced to operate in the shadows," said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who is also chair of the committee.

☆ SEC awards record $279 million to whistleblower
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — The nation's top securities regulator on Friday announced it had given a $279 million award through its whistleblower program — the largest in its history. The Securities and Exchange Commission said the unnamed whistleblower provided information and assistance that led to a successful enforcement action, which the agency didn't describe. The payout is well more than double the second-largest award of $114 million, issued in October 2020. Whistleblower payments are withdrawn from an investor protection fund established by Congress. Rewards can range from 10% to 30% of the money collected when sanctions exceed $1 million.

☆ House China committee targets top clothing brands in forced labor inquiry
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A shopper carries a bag of Nike merchandise along the Magnificent Mile shopping district on December 21, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. WASHINGTON — A House committee examining the U.S. government's economic relationship with China is asking some of the world's largest clothing companies for information about the use of forced labor during production — a potential violation of U.S. trade law. Lawmakers asked retailers Temu, Shein, Nike and Adidas North America about the use of materials and labor sourced from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region of China, according to letters sent to company leaders on Tuesday. Such practices would constitute violations of the 2021 Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, according to the lawmakers. The inquiries also follow a March hearing of the committee that included an expert assessment finding that U.S. companies finance "state-sponsored forced labor programs in the Uyghur region."

☆ Lawmakers led by Democrats urge the Fed to halt rate hikes ahead of Wednesday's announcement
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — A group led by several prominent Democratic lawmakers is calling on the Federal Reserve to halt rate hikes to avoid risking too much damage to the economy. The lawmakers called on the Fed to suspend rate hikes to "respect" its dual mandate and "avoid engineering a recession that destroys jobs and crushes small businesses." The benchmark federal funds rate is the highest since 2007 after nine consecutive rate increases by the Fed since last year. They also cited the lowest year-over-year consumer price index in nine months, a resilient labor market and a 3.5% unemployment rate, including the lowest rate for Black Americans on record, as proof that further rate hikes are unnecessary. Successive rate hikes would "needlessly" threaten that progress, they argued.

☆ Lawmakers urge SEC to crack down on Chinese retail giant Shein over alleged forced labor
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — Bipartisan lawmakers are urging the nation's top markets regulator to require Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein to disclose potential forced labor practices ahead of the company's possible initial public offering in the United States. "As a global company, Shein takes visibility across our entire supply chain seriously. We have zero tolerance for forced labor." "Other experts argue that it is appropriate to presuppose that any product made in the XUAR is made with forced labor." Independent coalition Shut Down Shein has also called on the SEC to deny IPO registration to Shein unless it provides proof of compliance with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

☆ Bipartisan Senate bill would push ticket sellers to disclose fees upfront
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

You also have the option of purchasing live tickets that can be printed directly from your computer or wireless device. WASHINGTON — Swifties, the BeyHive and Cure fans may have a reason to rejoice: Senators on Wednesday are set to introduce a bipartisan bill targeting hidden ticket fees for live events. Dubbed the Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing (TICKET) Act, the measure would require ticketing merchants to disclose upfront full ticket prices, including fees, for concerts, sporting events and other large gatherings. Ticket fees can comprise 21% to as much as 58% of the total cost of tickets, according to a statement from the committee. The bill aims to promote competition "by delivering ticket fee and speculative ticket transparency for the benefit of all consumers," the committee said.

☆ Treasury proposes new process to spot risks after SVB, Signature Bank failures
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury testifies before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services March 22, 2023 in Washington, DC. The Financial Stability Oversight Council voted to approve a framework on financial stability for public feedback. "This framework outlines common vulnerabilities and transmission channels through which shocks can propagate through the financial system. Yellen said that in trying to prevent problems in the financial system, the council does not "broadly prioritize one type of tool over another." "Addressing the diverse range of financial vulnerabilities that exist today – and that may arise tomorrow – requires a broad set of flexible tools."

☆ Janet Yellen says U.S. economic competition with China must be 'fair to both sides'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

China has pivoted away from market reforms "toward a more state-driven approach that has undercut its neighbors and countries across the world," Yellen said. Her comments come as Washington, and the Republican-held House in particular, increase pressure on Beijing as part of a sustained U.S. backlash against China's economic tactics. WASHINGTON — The U.S. seeks healthy economic competition with China even as the country pursues intellectual property to gain an economic edge, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday. Hundreds of Chinese firms are listed on our stock exchanges, which are part of the deepest and most liquid capital markets in the world," Yellen said. Yellen vowed to partner with U.S. allies in countering China's "unfair economic practices" while advancing "our vision for an open, fair, and rules-based global economic order."

☆ McCarthy unveils debt ceiling bill that aims to cut big parts of Biden's agenda
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks at a rally marking the 100th day of Republican control of the House in Washington D.C. on April 17, 2023. WASHINGTON — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Wednesday released his plan to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion for about a year while attempting to repeal major components of President Joe Biden's agenda. "Now that we've introduced a clear plan for a responsible debt limit increase, they have no more excuse and refuse to negotiate," McCarthy said. McCarthy's announcement comes after days of speculation about the GOP proposal to temporarily raise the debt limit for certain cutbacks, such as a stall on non-defense discretionary spending. Justices are expected to rule on the student loan program by early summer.

WASHINGTON — The top Democrat in the House slammed Republicans' plan to pass a bill later this month to suspend the debt ceiling for a year and impose broad federal spending cuts, rather than simply raise the $31.4 trillion limit and avoid any risk of potential U.S. debt default. "Even the flirtation with the default is going to hurt everyday Americans," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday. "It risks raising car payments, it risks raising home mortgage payments, it risks raising student loan debt payments," he said. The New York Democrat said refusing to raise the debt ceiling for the first time in history would have "catastrophic" consequences. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler echoed Jeffries' concerns Tuesday, telling lawmakers that the debt ceiling fight has already affected the markets.

☆ 'Manufactured' debt ceiling crisis would damage U.S. economic rebound, key Treasury official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON — A failure by Congress to raise the U.S. debt ceiling could spark a "manufactured" crisis that derails economic progress, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said Friday. Adeyemo, who has been meeting with world financial leaders in Washington this week during the International Monetary Fund's spring meetings, said continued delays in hiking the $31.4 trillion debt limit threaten international confidence in the U.S. economy. "It's critical that Congress lift the debt limit," the top Treasury official told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Friday. "The last thing we need is a manufactured crisis in our country." Pushing off a bill to avoid debt default "will take away from that confidence that the world is showing" the U.S. and "would slow down the momentum that we had," Adeyemo said.

☆ Warren, AOC press top Silicon Valley Bank depositors about any cushy treatment they received
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — Two top progressive lawmakers questioned whether Silicon Valley Bank offered its largest depositors unusually cushy treatment, one month after the institution collapsed and sparked broader damage to the banking system. "Silicon Valley Bank's unusually cozy relationship with its clients increased the threat of contagion when the bank went under," Warren said in a statement. "The American people deserve to know how these mutual backscratching arrangements developed, who benefitted from them, and what role they played in Silicon Valley Bank's failure." Over 95% of the bank's deposits were uninsured as of December, which threatened companies' ability to make payroll after the bank failed. Warren and Ocasio-Cortez asked the depositors to provide details on any special treatment they received from SVB by April 24.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department confirmed on Wednesday it had seized the Russia-linked online criminal marketplace Genesis Market, working in conjunction with international law enforcement and the Treasury Department. The announcements from Justice and Treasury came a day after the FBI and a consortium of international law enforcement authorities shut down Genesis Market. The international marketplace steals private information from victims' devices and offers it for sale, Treasury said in a release Wednesday. "Today's takedown of Genesis Market is a demonstration of the FBI's commitment to disrupting and dismantling key services used by criminals to facilitate cybercrime," FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. "Treasury will continue to work closely with our law enforcement colleagues to disrupt this activity and hold malign cyber actors accountable."

☆ Lawmakers aim to train more truck drivers, ease supply chain issues through bipartisan bill
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A semi truck used by students while earning their commercial driver's license (CDL) parked at Truck America Training of Kentucky in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, U.S., on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021. WASHINGTON — A pair of bipartisan lawmakers have reintroduced legislation offering tax credits to U.S. truck drivers in an effort to address a dire pandemic-related shortage. The Strengthening Supply Chains Through Truck Driver Incentives Act aims to combat what lawmakers said was a shortfall of about 80,000 commercial truck drivers in 2021, caused by hiring and retention challenges. The bill would establish a two-year refundable tax credit of up to $7,500 for truck drivers with a valid Class A commercial driver's license who drive at least 1,900 hours in a year. Ten advocacy organizations representing the trucking industry, including the American Trucking Associations and American Loggers Council, have backed the bill.

Updating liquidity stress tests to take into account high-speed digital withdrawals, and the ability of social media to spread information among depositors at a much faster pace than ever before. Increasing the frequency of stress tests for mid-sized banks. Several of the proposals the White House endorsed are already under consideration, according to bank regulators who testified this week before two congressional committees. Among these are stricter rules for measuring liquidity in mid-sized banks, those with over $100 billion in combined assets, but under $250 billion. On Wednesday, group of Democratic senators, led by financial regulatory hawk Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent a letter to bank regulators demanding stronger bank capital requirements.

☆ Senate Democrats led by Elizabeth Warren press federal bank regulators to implement stronger capital requirements
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats are pressing federal banking regulators to toughen bank capital requirements following back-to-back congressional hearings where officials testified about the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. "We write to urge you follow through with establishing strong capital requirements that protect consumers and taxpayers, and preserve the safety and soundness of our banking system," Warren, along with Sens. Under the "stress capital buffer" implemented at the time, the capital requirements for banking firms is determined annually according to supervisory stress tests. The lawmakers urged regulators to enforce strong capital requirements to fend off aggressive lobbying from Wall Street and safeguard against more bank failures. "In order to prevent future bank crises and protect working Americans, I urge your agencies to quickly implement strong capital requirements and resist industry pressure to weaken or delay these requirements."

House lawmakers tore into top U.S. bank regulators Wednesday, questioning their competency and saying examiners were asleep at the wheel, at a second day of congressional hearings this week about how Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed practically overnight on March 10 and March 12. "We need competent financial supervisors, but Congress can't legislate competence," House Financial Services chairman Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., told top officials at the Federal Reserve, Treasury and FDIC at the beginning the hearing. "The light touch cautions from the Fed to SVB management are clearly not what Congress intended for bank supervision," said Waters. Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga, Mich., demanded raw, confidential supervisory information about the banks, available to regulators ahead of the collapses. Members of the Republican majority House challenged many of the decisions made by regulators in the hours and days after SVB collapsed and Signature Bank followed 48 hours later.

The nation's top bank regulators will face tough questions for the first time Tuesday about how Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed practically overnight earlier this month. This allowed the FDIC to guarantee hundreds of billions of dollars in uninsured deposits at the banks, money that might otherwise have been wiped out. Both Republicans and Democrats on the 29-member panel questioned whether these deposit guarantees amounted to a government bailout for rich account holders. "One clear takeaway from recent events is that heavy reliance on uninsured deposits creates liquidity risks that are extremely difficult to manage," the FDIC's Gruenberg said in his written testimony. "Particularly in today's environment where money can flow out of institutions with incredible speed in response to news amplified through social media channels."

☆ Key lawmakers say upcoming hearings on bank failures aim to boost U.S. confidence in banking sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of lawmakers overseeing the recent turmoil in the banking sector said Wednesday that they aim to increase Americans' confidence in the banking industry after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed over the last two weeks. Regulators and lawmakers are also trying to contain further damage to the economy and reinforce confidence in the banking system. Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican and ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, also said writing new laws should take a back seat at the hearings to investigating what happened. We can't legislate that either in the financial sector or among financial institutions management, nor with the regulators." Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat and chairman of Senate Banking Committee, compared the SVB collapse to the devastating train crash in East Palestine, Ohio.

☆ Senators call on former Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank CEOs to testify
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — Bipartisan leaders of a Senate committee investigating the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank called Thursday for both institutions' former CEOs to testify about the collapses that have sparked fears about broader economic damage. Ex-SVB CEO Gregory Becker and former Signature CEO Joseph DePaolo "must answer for" their banks' "downfall," wrote Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Tim Scott, R-S.C., in letters to the former executives. Brown and Scott are the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Brown and Scott urged the two former executives to answer the panel's questions "at a future date."

☆ Sens. Booker, Warnock press big bank CEOs to pause overdraft fees after SVB failure
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Cory Booker and Raphael Warnock have urged the CEOs of 10 major banks to waive overdraft and nonsufficient fund fees that could cost some Americans more than $100 a day in the wake of the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The letters went to the CEOs of Wells Fargo , U.S. Bank , Truist Financial Corp ., TD Bank , Regions Financial Corp ., PNC Bank , JPMorgan Chase , Huntington National Bank , Citizens Bank and Bank of America . Regulators shuttered New York-based Signature Bank days later in an effort to stall a potential banking crisis. Booker and Warnock said banking customers whose paydays fell between March 10 and March 13 were unable to receive or deposit checks from payroll providers banking with SVB and Signature Bank. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday said the department is prepared to guarantee all deposits for financial institutions beyond SVB and Signature Bank if the crisis worsens.

☆ Junk fees cost consumers tens of billions annually, according to the White House
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Fees on concert tickets, airfares, hotels and other so-called junk fees cost Americans tens of billions of dollars every year, often obscuring the full price of purchases from consumers, top economic experts said at the White House on Tuesday. Biden also called on state legislators to address junk fees at a March 8 virtual meeting with the White House. The eradication of junk fees is also a bipartisan issue with positive benefits for the economy, Brainard will say. She says recent surveys show 75% of consumers support cutting junk fees, "with strong support across party lines." "As an economist, I know that regulating junk fees has a strong foundation in decades of scholarship.

☆ House committee calls Fed, FDIC officials to testify in its first hearing on bank failures
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — The House Financial Services Committee on Friday announced its first hearing on the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The announcement follows President Joe Biden's request to Congress on Friday to allow financial regulators more authority to claw back compensation from executives at failed banks. Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., and Ranking Member Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said House Financial Services is "committed to getting to the bottom of the failures" of the banks. "As Chairman and Ranking Member, we take our oversight duties seriously. We will conduct this hearing without fear or favor to get the answers the American people deserve."

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