Brendan Pedersen
American Banker
Washington, DC, United States
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Past articles by Brendan:
Crypto, Build Back Better, M&A: A banker's guide to Congress in 2022
Democrats largely left the financial sector alone last year. But they are attempting to resurrect a bank tax-reporting plan to help pay for President Biden’s social policy package while keeping a close eye on cryptocurrency and how regulators review mergers. → Read More
People of color, young borrowers likelier to file credit disputes: CFPB
A report by the agency found that consumers in majority Black neighborhoods were more than twice as likely as those in white neighborhoods to lodge complaints with the credit bureaus over information in their files. Meanwhile, disputes were less common among older borrowers. → Read More
Mortgage servicer hit with OCC order for poor risk controls
The agency said the risk management program for Cenlar FSB, which performs servicing functions for financial institution clients, was inadequate for the bank's size. → Read More
Manchin sides with banks in rejecting IRS reporting proposal
Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a swing Democratic vote in deliberations over President Biden's social spending bill, signaled opposition to requiring financial institutions to report customer account information to help catch tax evaders. The measure "is going to be gone," he predicted. → Read More
Banks urge White House to ditch IRS reporting plan
In their first direct appeal to President Biden, financial institutions and other industries' trade lobbies called on the administration to abandon its proposal that would give the Internal Revenue Service new information on customer accounts. → Read More
What FSOC's climate risk report means for banks
The Financial Stability Oversight Council's guidelines for regulators avoided measures that banks feared such as fossil fuel loan limits and rigid new stress tests. But the panel is recommending rules that would require financial institutions to disclose their exposure to global warming. → Read More
How climate risk is already creeping into banking policy
From factoring global warming into the underwriting of government-backed loans to conducting "sensitivity analysis" of banks' ability to withstand severe weather, several government agencies are accelerating efforts to address the impact of climate change on the financial system. → Read More
Treasury narrows IRS reporting plan. Banks and GOP are unmoved.
Democrats proposed raising the account threshold and exempting certain transactions from a measure enlisting financial institutions’ help in catching tax cheats. But opponents say the changes are insufficient and centrist lawmakers — whose support is crucial to enact the plan — were mum. → Read More
‘Unequivocally false’: Treasury says critics misrepresent IRS reporting plan
Banks and other stakeholders are trying to stop a proposal requiring financial institutions to submit more account data, but the Biden administration says opponents of the measure are spreading the false notion that it would reveal information about specific transactions. → Read More
Sidelining of Quarles complicates Fed's policymaking
Gov. Randal Quarles is no longer vice chair for supervision, and the Federal Reserve Board will make bank regulatory policy only when multiple members reach consensus. Observers expect inaction until the Biden administration fills key leadership posts. → Read More
Washington should sit out search for regional Fed chiefs: GOP senators
Some policymakers in the nation’s capital have urged the Federal Reserve banks of Boston and Dallas to consider people of color and women while selecting new presidents. Republicans led by Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania say the process should be left to the local bank boards. → Read More
Is modernizing National Bank Act the answer to fintech charter woes?
Regulators’ efforts to open the federal banking system to crypto firms and other nonbanks have been hampered by differing legal interpretations and challenges by state regulators. Congressional action updating the 19th-century law could bring much-needed clarity, observers say. → Read More
House Republican to SEC chair: Leave crypto rules to Congress
Rep. Patrick McHenry, the top GOP member on the Financial Services Committee, said lawmakers should take the lead in developing a policy framework for stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies. He criticized Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler for suggesting the agency already has authority to act. → Read More
Fed won't ban private stablecoins, Powell says
The Federal Reserve chairman told lawmakers that the central bank wouldn't try to block other cryptocurrency providers if it decides to issue a digital dollar. At the same hearing, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen continued to defend a proposal requiring banks to report customer account information to the IRS. → Read More
OCC nominee faces rocky path to Senate confirmation
Criticism from banking and other business groups of Saule Omarova’s candidacy could make it difficult for moderate Democrats to support President Biden's pick to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. → Read More
Banks and credit unions unswayed after House softens IRS reporting plan
The financial sector had been outraged over a Senate proposal requiring data submissions for accounts with at least $600 of inflows and outflows. House leaders are aiming to raise that threshold to broaden support, but industry groups say they still oppose the idea. → Read More
Biden OCC pick cheered by progressives, jeered by industry
Saule Omarova supports allowing the Federal Reserve to hold customer deposits and is skeptical of big-bank M&A. While those views are unpopular in the industry, banking critics hailed the choice to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. → Read More
House signs off on pot banking bill again, but will Senate follow?
Lawmakers approved adding the measure, which gives banks legal cover to serve cannabis firms, to a broader legislative package. But the provision has already passed the chamber several times and analysts say full enactment will be more difficult. → Read More
U.S. Bank’s big deal will test D.C.'s tolerance of large mergers
Whether to approve the $8 billion deal will fall to the Fed, whose board may be reshaped by President Biden in the coming months. The White House recently called for more robust scrutiny of bank acquisitions. → Read More
Banks call IRS reporting plan a compliance and privacy nightmare. Is it?
Requiring financial firms to report customer account data to the IRS as a means of catching tax cheats would be intrusive and costly, industry officials say. Backers of the measure say those claims are exaggerated. → Read More