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1 week ago | 
capitolaccountdc.com | Robert Schmidt
As it waved the white flag in the lawsuit over its open banking rule, the CFPB took a 180-degree turn on an obscure but fundamental legal question: When consumers permit a financial app to access their account data, are banks required to share it? Many start-ups have been built, in part, on the premise that the …
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1 week ago | 
capitolaccountdc.com | Robert Schmidt
Nearly 15 years since the passage of Dodd-Frank’s Durbin amendment, the policy fight over swipe fees is still running hot – never mind that the chief protagonist Richard Durbin is retiring. In Washington, banks and retailers are clashing over a potential Senate vote next week on credit card interchange. Other skirmishes are unfolding in state legislatur…
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3 weeks ago | 
capitolaccountdc.com | Robert Schmidt
Dozens of small businesses along the U.S.-Mexico border are raising a ruckus over a massively burdensome regulation. One small check-cashing firm describes being “buried” in paperwork. A trade group in Texas reports that its members’ compliance costs are “financially ruinous.” And two federal judges have separately concluded that the policy, which was a…
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1 month ago | 
capitolaccountdc.com | Robert Schmidt
It seems the CFPB has been open for at least some business. But the question is, who’s in charge? Over the course of the last two months, Mark Calabria, a top OMB official well-known to the financial industry, has been acting as the leader of the bureau’s regulatory work, sources say. His office has been a hub of meetings with banks and fintech companies…
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2 months ago | 
capitolaccountdc.com | Robert Schmidt
Lawmakers’ determination to pass stablecoin legislation poses a threat to banks, with the potential to shift the competitive landscape and allow new companies to start crowding in on their business. Yet the industry pushback so far has been remarkable for its restraint: Firms have some deep concerns about the bills rapidly moving through Congress, but a…
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2 months ago | 
capitolaccountdc.com | Robert Schmidt
Friday Q and A: The Republican-led SEC is doubling down on its mission to promote capital formation and provide more access to the markets for companies and investors. On the enforcement side, that has meant shifting resources, dropping prominent cases targeting crypto firms and a lot of talk about ending “regulation by enforcement.”
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Mar 6, 2025 | 
capitolaccountdc.com | Robert Schmidt
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in his first major speech since taking office, laid out the “Three Pillars of the America First Economic Agenda.” And most notably, the first pillar he chose to mention wasn’t taxes or tariffs, but overhauling financial oversight. It’s an effort that the former hedge fund manager stressed he will lead himself.
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Feb 25, 2025 | 
capitolaccountdc.com | Robert Schmidt
Sponsored by MFA, the trade association for the global alternative asset management industry. Before he was nominated as FHFA director, Bill Pulte made a name for himself by giving money away on social media. But “Twitter Philanthropy,” which brought him several million followers and the attention of Donald Trump, was only one aspect of the homebuilding …
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Feb 13, 2025 | 
capitolaccountdc.com | Robert Schmidt
Bill Pulte’s nomination as FHFA director hasn’t received a whole lot of attention, with the Washington financial regulatory crowd focused on a deluge of other developments and appointees. The quiet is a little surprising because the housing scion is a bit of a celebrity – at least on Elon Musk’s X, where Pulte hands out charitable donations and has more…
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Feb 10, 2025 | 
capitolaccountdc.com | Robert Schmidt
If there was any lingering doubt about the CFPB’s standing within the Trump administration, Russell Vought dispelled it early this morning. “Employees should stand down from performing any work task,” the OMB chief and acting bureau director wrote in an 8:30 a.m. “all-hands” message. For the agency’s roughly 1,700 staff members, there wasn’t much grey a…
