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Financial Services Report (3/11)

March 11, 2019
Its been a tough week for moderates – at least if one were to try to read the Democratic zeitgeist.  Earlier in the week, a New York Times Opinion piece questioned whether the Democratic party needs moderates anymore. And then yesterday, the media lit up with headlines of their latest liberal darling criticizing moderates for “worshiping the “meh”’.   Hard to believe it is just a few weeks since David Brooks call for moderation in our political discourse was also in the Times.
 
For years this email has warned of the threat of a Democratic version of the Tea Party, and the demise of the success of the compromise in American politics. For years Senator Ted Kennedy, certainly not one to claim he carried the mantle of moderation, was lauded for a strategy that achieved incremental success.  It seems under these new politics, practiced by the left and the right, where one must vilify their opponents – or anyone who has the audacity not to one-hundred percent agree with them – our cherished representative democracy seems trending towards two default positions. 
 
Either a totalitarian regime, where the only achievements are portrayed as grand in scope but subject to reversal in the next election. Or impregnable gridlock, because any compromise must be viewed as a total defeat.    But it doesn't have to be this way. The left may be decrying the moderate today, but it is because in our Democracy you need to convince others of your positions — and that is hard, and takes time. But having a real center, that has the ability to listen to both sides and try to find common ground – or at least acceptable alternatives is critical if we want our government to function.

Looking Ahead

Both Chambers have relatively light schedules, and light weeks as they rush to get out of town for the Recess next week.  The Senate is scheduled to continue to churn through nominations, while the main vote in the House will be about the Mueller report.  On Monday, there are four Financial Services bills on the Suspension Calendar.  
 
However, much of the business next week will take place in Committee, as the President's Budget expected to be released early next week and Administration officials flood the Hill to testify on it.  For example, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Acting Office of Management and Budget Director (OMB) Russel Vought will be making Capitol Hill Committee appearances next week. Acting Director Vought will appear before the House (Tuesday AM) and Senate Budget (Wednesday PM) Committees, while Secretary Mnuchin will head to the House Ways and Means (Thursday AM) and Senate Finance (Thursday PM).
 
In the Financial Services Committee there will be a few hearings of note, including the Committee’s effort to tackle Flood Insurance. There will also be a hearing on various bills to strengthen the oversight of illicit criminal activity within the financial network.
 
In the Senate, CFPB Director will appear before the Banking Committee where she can anticipate a repeat of some of the questions she took last week in the House.
 
Last Week in the House
 
The Floor
 
On Friday, the House passed the For the People Act (HR 1) election reform package in a 234-193 party-line vote. The bill includes provisions that aim to expand voting rights by creating an automatic voter registration system and making Election Day a national holiday for federal workers. It would also seek to reform the nation’s campaign finance system by increasing transparency in campaign donations and prohibiting coordination between super PACs and candidates. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not expected to bring the package up for a vote in the Senate.
 
Hearings and Markups
 
HFSC FY20 Budget Views and Estimates (3/6): On Wednesday, the Financial Services Committee held a markup where Members adopted the Committee's Budget Views and Estimates for the Fiscal Year, on a party-line vote after four of the seven amendments offered by Republicans were accepted. The document is a non-binding but highlights the Committees priorities for programs under its jurisdiction.
 
Ways and Means Infrastructure Hearing (3/6): On Wednesday, the House Committee on Ways and Means held a hearing entitled "Our Nation's Crumbling Infrastructure and the Need for Immediate Action." During the hearing, Members on both sides of the Committee agreed on the need for significant investment to rebuild US infrastructure and discussed a variety of financing mechanisms including public private partnerships, reauthorization of taxable direct pay bonds, and the creating of tax-free Move America Bonds. Members also highlighted a US Chamber of Commerce report on the role insurance companies can have in financing long-term investment such as infrastructure.
 
CFPB Oversight (3/7): On Thursday, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathleen Kraninger made her first appearance before Congress during another marathon hearing of the Financial Services Committee. Throughout the hearing, Democrats criticized numerous CFPB actions taken under the leadership of former Acting Director Mulvaney, as well as some by Kraninger as well. In particular the Bureau's review of the Payday Lending Rule's ability to repay requirements, its ending of supervision for Military Lending Act compliance, and the alleged politicization of the Bureau were all points raised repeatedly. Meanwhile, Republicans used the hearing to speak favorably of the Director's leadership of CFPB while criticizing the Bureau’s accountability to Congress and former Director Richard Cordray’s “regulation through enforcement” approach to supervision. 
 
Bills Introduced
 
The Consumers First Act (Waters): Contains numerous provisions relating to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, including: (1) requiring regular examination of compliance with the Military Lending Act; (2) reestablishing a dedicated student loan office; (3) requiring adequate agency staffing; (4) requiring greater reporting on cooperation with federal agencies; (5) mandating that the consumer complaint database remain “transparent and publicly accessible;” and (6) reinstating terminated Consumer Advisory Board members. Several of the provisions reverse policies implemented by former CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney.
 
SAFE Banking Act (Perlmutter, Heck, Davidson, and Stivers): Provides a regulatory safe harbor for financial institutions doing business with state-legal marijuana dispensaries. While the legislation has been introduced by Rep. Perlmutter every Congress since 2013, the latest iteration adds additional provides protections against money laundering for ancillary businesses servicing dispensaries such as real estate owners, accountants, and vendors.
 
SAFE Lending Act (Bonamici and Cummings): Targets small dollar lending through numerous provisions, including: (1) allowing consumers to cancel small-dollar loan automatic withdrawal and pre-authorize remotely created checks; (2) requiring all lenders to abide by state usury laws; (3) requiring small dollar lenders to register with CFPB; and (4) banning lead generators and anonymous payday lending. Companion legislation in the Senate is sponsored by Jeff Merkley.
 
FINTECH Act (Scott and Loudermilk): Establishes a Fintech Council to designate single primary regulators of Fintechs entering the market.
 
Safe Flooding Mitigation Revolving Fund Act (Crist and Williams): Creates a low-interest loan program to help property owners make flood mitigation investments.
 
Other Activity
 
Neal NAFTA Interview: On Monday, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) told Politico that it would be "very hard" to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Although Chairman Neal declined to offer a timeline on which Congress will consider a a deal, he said that scrutiny of the trade deal will likely focus on enforceability and drug pricing, in addition to labor and environmental concerns that have been raised by many Congressional Democrats. Also this week, the Congressional Research Service released analysis questioning whether or not the President has the power to unilaterally withdraw from trade agreements like NAFTA—something that President Trump has repeatedly threatened to do in order to force Congress's hand.
 
Fintech and Payments Caucus: On Thursday, Reps. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) and David Scott (D-GA) were selected to serve as co-chairs of the Congressional Fintech and Payments Caucus. Two additional co-chairs are expected to be selected for the bipartisan caucus, whose stated goal is to ensure the positive growth of the fintech and payments processing industries.
 
Waters Flood Insurance Discussion Draft: On Friday, House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters circulated a discussion draft of flood insurance reform legislation. The draft bill would reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for five years and implement several reforms, including: (1) forgiving NFIP's debt; (2) creating a demonstration program offering discounted rates to low-income policyholders; and (3) establishing a new state loan arrangement for mitigation. In addition to the discussion draft, HFSC Democrats are expected to introduced several other flood insurance bills this week.
 
Last Week in the Senate
The Floor

With the Senate's week spent confirming several judicial nominees, the upper chamber did not vote on any financial services legislation this week.
 
Hearings and Markups
 
HSGAC Hearing on Data Breaches (3/7): On Thursday, the CEOs of Equifax and Marriot appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Investigations Subcommittee to discuss private sector data breaches. Responding to criticisms of Equifax's data stewardship, CEO Mark Begor noted that the company has added nearly 1,000 full-time data security and IT professionals since its 2017 data breach, and plans to continue spending an additional $1 billion per year on cybersecurity over the next several years. Subcommittee Chairman Rob Portman (R-OH) and other Committee Members expressed interest in "moving forward" with legislation addressing data breaches.
 
Bills Introduced
 
Wall Street Tax Act (Schatz and Van Hollen): Imposes a .1 percent tax on transactions of stocks, bonds, and derivatives. House companion legislation is sponsored by Rep. Pete DeFazio (D-OR).
 
Education Savings Accounts for Military Families Act (Scott, Sasse, and Cotton): Establishes opt-in education savings accounts allowing service members to save up to $6,000 annually towards their children's education. The legislation is intended to provide military families with educational alternatives including tutoring and private school. Companion legislation in the House is sponsored by Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN).
 
ABLE Age Adjustment Act (Casey, Moran, Van Hollen, and Roberts): Expands the eligibility of ABLE savings accounts to individuals who acquired a disability before age 46 (availability is currently limited to individuals who acquired a disability before their 26th birthday.)
 
Other Activity
 
Corinthian College SEC Letter: On Monday, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter to SEC Chairman Jay Clayton criticizing SEC's recent settlement with two former executives of the defunct for-profit Corinthian College accused of defrauding investors. The letter calls the settlements, which were in the tens of thousands of dollars and did not not require either executive to admit wrongdoing, "an insult to the victims of Corinthian's fraud."
 
Democrat MLA Letter: On Tuesday, all 47 Senate Democrats sent a letter to CFPB Director Kathleen Kraninger urging her to resume the Bureau's supervision of compliance with the Military Lending Act. The letter emphasizes the importance of the law's 36% interest rate cap for service members and argues that CFPB is currently authorized the examine compliance with the law—despite assertions from former CFPB leadership and Congressional Republicans that it does not.
 
Senate Entrepreneurship Caucus: On Wednesday, more than a dozen Senators launched the bipartisan Senate Entrepreneurship Caucus co-chaired by Sens. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). Per the press release announcing the caucus, the caucus will formulate a comprehensive strategy to combat the "startup slump," as well as serve as a clearinghouse for policy proposals to encourage entrepreneurship.

Brown Bows Out for 2020: On Thursday, Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced that he would not run for President, expressing confidence that the eventual nominee would take up his "dignity of work" political platform. Ranking Member Brown had frequently been mentioned as a potential contender and had recently been traveling to early primary states. Some viewed his decision as further evidence that former Vice-President Joe Biden would be joining the race.
 
Campus Card Pilot Program Letter: On Friday, Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos expressing concern that the Department of Education's Payment Vehicle Account Program Pilot allows the government to monitor student spending and potentially opens the door to corporate privacy violations. The letter asks the Department to clarify how the pilot program—which provides Federal Student Aid recipients an FSA branded zero fee debit card—would collect and use consumer data.
 
Last Week in the Administration
 
IRS Issues Proposed Export Deduction Rounding Out International Tax Reform
On Monday, the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations providing guidance on calculating the deduction for foreign-derived intangible income (FDII). Instituted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the FDII deduction allows US firms to deduct income earned from selling US-made goods and services overseas, potentially lowering their tax liability from 21 to 13 percent. Alongside the global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) tax—which imposes a minimum tax backstop on foreign earning and for which guidance was issued in October—the FDII deduction is intended to incentivize companies to keep operations in the United States.
 
Cash-Strapped Treasury Suspends Retirement Investments Pending Debt Ceiling Resolution
On Monday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sent a letter to Congress informing lawmakers that until the recently reinstated debt ceiling is raised, the Treasury Department would cease payments into two government retirement accounts as the Treasury Department tries to maneuver finances to stretch its borrowing authority as long as possible. Treasury will make the accounts whole as soon as the debt ceiling is raised and the move will not affect payments to beneficiaries, Secretary Mnuchin said.
 
FSOC Adopts Activities Based Approach
On Wednesday, the Financial Stability Oversight Council voted unanimously to issue proposed interpretive guidance taking an activities-based approach to designating nonbank financial companies as systemically important.The Council's new "activities-based approach" to designations would: (1) require FSOC to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of designations; (2) assess the likelihood of a potential designee's likelihood of financial distress; (3) condense the current three-stage review process into two stages; and (4) implement off-ramps.
 
Treasury Abandons Restrictions on Lump-Sum Pension Payments
On Friday, the Treasury Department announced that it will allow employers to offer lump-sum annuities to pension plan participants who have already begun receiving monthly retirement benefits. The move clarifies that the Department will not follow through with a 2015 Obama-era pledge to outlaw lump sum payments to retirees, a move which had prompted many companies to move away from the strategy. While lump sum payments to retirees can save companies money on fees and remove liabilities from their balance sheet, the Obama Administration was skeptical that some retirees may not be prepared to manage lump sum payments. Responding to the move, Senate HELP Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) criticized the announcement for allowing employers to shift risk to retirees.
 
Report: Fed May Increase Foreign Bank Capital Requirements
On Tuesday, Reuters reported that the Federal Reserve is considering increasing foreign bank liquidity requirements as part of the central bank's upcoming proposal to tailor rules for US subsidiaries of foreign banks. The rules would likely target the US branches of foreign banks, which unlike the US-based intermediate holding companies of those banks, are exempt from US liquidity regulations—a dynamic which foreign banking skeptics have argued allows foreign banks to skirt US supervision. Observers have been quick to note that the move would be one of the first efforts to increase regulation as part of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's ongoing effort to tailor banking rules.
 
Fed Keeps Safeguard Capital Buffer at Zero
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors voted against activating the Counter-Cyclical Capital Buffer (CCyB). The Board voted 4-1 to keep CCyB—which allows the central bank to impose an additional capital buffer on major banks in times of elevated risk and would—at zero percent until vulnerabilities are "meaningfully above normal." Governor Lael Brainard, the lone dissent vote, had previously expressed interest in activating the buffer in December amid market volatility and the potential for another economic downturn.
 
Fed Exploring Regulations Targeting Narrow Banks
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors invited public comment on lowering —potentially to zero—its rate of interest paid on excess reserves (IOER) maintained at the Fed by financial institutions that hold a very large proportion of their assets as balances at Fed Banks. The move would target the potential formation of "narrow" banks based around holding nearly all of their assets as Fed Reserves and profiting off of IOER.
 
Banks Exempted from CCAR Pass/Fail Grades
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors announced that it would limit its use of the qualitative objection on the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR) stress testing exercises. Following the long-awaited move, banks that have completed four cycles of CCAR and passed on their fourth cycle will no longer receive pass or fail grades on its qualitative component through which the Fed evaluates a firm's internal risk management and controls. Banks will still receive pass or fail grades on the CCAR quantitative assessments—which measure banks ability to endure hypothetical adverse scenarios—and be subject to potential enforcement action—such as restrictions on shareholder distributions—for supervisory shortcomings uncovered during CCAR.
 
Report: Agencies Send Volcker 2.0 Back to Drawing Board
On Wednesday, media reports indicated that the five federal agencies involved in rewriting the Volcker Rule are likely to scrap last year's Volcker 2.0 proposal. Sources close to the decisionmaking have indicated that continued concerns over the rewrite's clarity and broad scope of covered transactions will likely prompt significant enough changes to require regulators to re-propose the rule restricting proprietary trading.
 
SEC's Clayton Eyes Exchange Data Fees
On Friday, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton indicated that the SEC expects to undertake regulation targeting the two-tiered system of exchange data prices. In a speech at Fordham University, he noted that such a proposal may address the following areas in order to ensure that retail investors can compete with financial institutions that pay for faster and more sophisticated proprietary data: (1) the scope and speed of core data; (2) the governance of core data plans and systems; and (3) potentially introducing competitive forces into the dissemination of core data in contrast with the currently centralized processor infrastructures.
 
CFPB Invites Input on PACE Financing Regulations
On Monday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requesting feedback on potential regulations on Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. The move begins implementation of section 307 of last year's Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, through which CFPB is required to issue specific Truth in Lending Act ability-to-repay regulations for the financing mechanism. PACE Financing allows property owners to finance a variety of green improvements through loans repaid as annual assessments on their property tax bill.
 
Labor Department Hikes Overtime Pay Threshold
On Thursday, the Department of Labor issued a proposed rule raising the threshold for required time-and-a-half overtime pay for salaried workers from $23,660 to $35,308. While the Department of Labor estimates that the change would make more than one million additional salaried employees eligible for overtime pay, critics have pointed out that the hike is well below the Obama administration's 2016 proposal to raise the threshold to $47,500 that was suspended by a federal court order.
 
Job Growth Short of Expectations
On Friday, the Department of Labor reported that the US economy added 20,000 jobs in February. Although the unemployment rate ticked down 0.2 percentage points to 3.8 percent, the job growth numbers fall far below economist expectations of 180,00 and even further behind the 311,000 jobs added in January.
 
FTC Approves Bank Encryption Requirements in 3-2 Vote
On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission issued proposed changes to its 2003 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Safeguards Rule that would require financial companies to encrypt all customer data and implement certain controls to prevent access to such information. Chairman Joseph Simons joined the Commission's two Democratic appointees to advance the proposed amendment over the dissent of Commissioners Noah Phillips and Christine Wilson, who argued that the amendment is overly prescriptive and would undermine the flexibility of the Safeguards Rule. Additionally, the Commission voted unanimously to advance changes its Privacy Rule reflecting the Dodd-Frank Act's transfer of most privacy rule enforcement to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
 
This Week's Schedule
Mon. (3/11)
  • No events schedule.
Tues. (3/12)
  • Hearing: House Appropriations Sub on For-Profit Colleges – 10:00 AM – The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies will hold a hearing entitled "Oversight of For-Profit Colleges: Protecting Students and Taxpayers from Predatory Practices." Details here.
  • Hearing: Senate Banking on the CFPB Semi-Annual Report– 10:00 AM – The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs will hold a hearing to examine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) Semi-Annual Report to Congress, featuring testimony from CFPB Director Kathleen Kraninger. Details here.
  • Hearing: House Budget Committee on the President's Budget – 10:00 AM – The House Budget Committee will hold a hearing to examine the President's FY 2020 budget, featuring testimony from Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Russell Vought. Details here.
  • Hearing: House Energy and Commerce Sub on the Internet – 10:00 AM – The Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing entitled "Legislating to Safeguard the Free and Open Internet." Details here.
  • Hearing: House Financial Services Committee on Wells Fargo – 10:00 AM – The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing entitled, “Holding Megabanks Accountable: An Examination of Wells Fargo's Pattern of Consumer Abuses.” Details here.
  • Hearing: FSGG Sub on Financial Crimes – 10:00 AM – The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) will hold a hearing entitled "Treasury's Role in Combating Financial Crimes." Details here.
  • Hearing: Senate HELP Committee on Higher Education Act Reauthorization – 10:00 AM – The Senate Committee on Health, Labor, Education, and Pensions (HELP) will hold a hearing entitled "Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act: Simplifying FASFA and Reducing the Burden of Verification." Details here.
  • Hearing: Senate Judiciary Committee on UK and California Privacy Laws – 10:00 AM – The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing entitled "GDPR and CCPA: Opt-ins, Consumer Control, and the Impact on Competition and Innovation." Details here.
  • Hearing: House Small Business Sub. on State Trade Expansion – 10:00 AM – The House Small Business Subcommittee on Rural Development, Agriculture, Trade, and Entrepreneurship will hold a hearing entitled "Challenges in SBA's State Trade Expansion Program." Details here.
  • Hearing: House Ways and Means Sub on Social Security – 10:00 AM – The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security will hold a hearing entitled "Protecting and Improving Social Security: Enhancing Social Security to Strengthen the Middle Class." Details here.
  • Hearing: House Ways and Means Sub on Tax Extenders – 10:00 AM – The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures will hold a hearing on temporary policy in the internal revenue code. Details here.
  • Hearing: Senate Finance Committee on the WTO – 10:15 AM – The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing with USTR Ambassador Robert Lighthizer entitled "Approaching 25: The Road Ahead for the World Trade Organization. Details here.
  • Hearing: House Judiciary Committee on the T-Mobile/Sprint Merger– 2:00 PM –The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing entitled "The State of Competition in the Wireless Market: Examining the Impact of the Proposed Merger of T-Mobile and Sprint on Consumers, Workers, and the Internet." Details here.
  • Hearing: House Appropriations Sub on Natural Disasters – 2:30 PM – The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing to examine recovery efforts for 2017 and 2018 natural disasters. Details here.
  • Hearing: Senate Commerce Committee on Rural Broadband – 2:30 PM – The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold a hearing entitled "The Impact of Broadband Investments in Rural America." Details here.
  • Hearing: House Homeland Security Committee on Postal Reform– 2:30 PM – The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs will hold a hearing entitled "A Path to Sustainability: Recommendations from the President's Task Force on the United States Postal Service." Details here.
Wed. (3/13)
  • Hearing: House Financial Services Committee on the NFIP – 10:00 AM – The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing entitled, “Preparing for the Storm: Reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program.” Details here.
  • Hearing: House Education Committee on Higher Education – 10:15 AM – The House Committee on Education and Labor will hold a hearing entitled "The Cost of College: Student Centered Reforms to Bring Higher Education Within Reach." Details here.
  • Hearing: House Small Business Committee on Rural Digital Entrepreneurship – 11:30 AM – The House Small Business Committee will hold a hearing entitled "Flipping the Switch on Rural Digital Entrepreneurship." Details here.
  • Hearing: House Financial Services Sub. on Corporate Transparency – 2:00 PM –The House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy will hold a hearing entitled, “Promoting Corporate Transparency: Examining Legislative Proposals to Detect and Deter Financial Crime.” Details here.
  • Hearing: House Ways and Means Committee on Social Security – 2:00 PM – The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing entitled "Protecting and Improving Social Security: Benefit Enhancements." Details here.
  • Hearing: Senate Budget Committee on the President's Budget – 2:30PM – The Senate Budget Committee will hold a hearing to examine the President's FY 2020 budget, featuring testimony from Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Russell Vought. Details here.
  • Hearing: Senate Judiciary Committee on Oversight of USPTO – 2:30PM – The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an oversight hearing of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), featuring testimony from USPTO Director Andrei Iancu. Details here.
Thurs. (3/14)
  • Hearing: House Ways and Means Committee on the President's Budget – 9:00 AM – The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing to examine the President's FY 2020 budget, featuring testimony from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Details here.
  • Hearing: House Financial Services Sub. on the SEC's Best Interest Rule – 9:30 AM – The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets will hold a hearing entitled, “Putting Investors First? Examining the SEC’s Best Interest Rule.” Details here.
  • Meeting: CFPB Advisory Committee – 9:45 AM – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will host its Spring 2019 Advisory Committee meeting on issues related to financial technology and other trends in consumer finance. Details here.
  • Hearing: Senate Banking on the FSOC Nonbank Designations – 10:00 AM – The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs will hold a hearing to examine the Financial Stability Oversight Council's (FSOC) Nonbank Designations. Details here.
  • Heritage Event with Senate Judiciary Priorities – 12:00 PM – The Heritage Foundation will host an event with Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to discuss the committee's priorities for the 116th Congress. Details here.
  • Hearing: Senate Finance Committee on the President's Budget – 1:30 PM – The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing to examine the President's FY 2020 budget, featuring testimony from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Details here.
Fri. (3/15)
  • No events schedule.
Further Out
  • FTC Hearing on Broadband Markets – March 20 – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will host a hearing entitled "Competition and Consumer Protection Issues in U.S. Broadband Markets." Details here.
  • Hearing: House Financial Services Sub. on Disaster Recovery Funds – March 26 – The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing entitled, “The Administration of Disaster Recovery Funds in the Wake of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.” Details here.
  • Hearing: House Financial Services Sub on Disclosure Reform – March 26 – The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets will hold a hearing entitled, “Building a Sustainable and Competitive Economy: An Examination of Proposals to Improve Environmental, Social and Governance Disclosures.” Details here.