STATE GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
Bills to watch:
- Senate Bill 371 - Workforce matters.
- House Bill 1001 - State budget.
- House Bill 1081 - Distributions to charitable beneficiaries.
- House Bill 1523 - Public depositories.
Hoosier students with new high school diploma seal will earn automatic acceptance to Indiana's public universities
Gov. Mike Braun said that Hoosier students will gain automatic acceptance to any of the state's public universities if they earn a more rigorous version of Indiana's new high school diploma.
Lawmakers seek to regulate and tax low-THC products
Senate Bill 478 would create a three-tiered permitting system for retailing, distributing and manufacturing low-THC hemp products and hemp flower. The House Ways and Means Committee voted to add a 15% excise tax to the measure.
Read more from the Indianapolis Business Journal
Banks introduces legislation to create education savings accounts for military families
According to a news release, Sen. Banks' legislation would create optional Military Education Savings Accounts to allow "families to customize their children's education."
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
Small-business lending data rule to be revised, CFPB says
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is planning the reissuance of its rule mandating lenders' collection and reporting of small-business loan data, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act. The move comes in response to the industry's legal challenges to the Biden-era rule, which mandates reporting on small-business loan applicants' ethnicity, race, gender and sexual orientation.
Read more from American Banker
D.C. Circuit stays order for CFPB to restart work, rehire
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has issued an administrative stay of U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson's order requiring the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to reinstate any employees terminated in mass firings, restart the agency's statutorily required work and preserve its records. The stay does not affect two provisional agreements between the parties with regard to contracts, staffing, funding and records. The stay is in effect while the panel considers a Justice Department request to put Jackson's order on hold while the government seeks to overturn the order.
Senate advances nominations for heads of OCC, SEC
The Senate banking committee approved the nominations of Jonathan Gould to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Paul Atkins to become chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The committee advanced the nominations in both cases by a 13-11 vote. Lawmakers also voted 19-5 to advance the nomination of Luke Pettit for assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions.
Stablecoin bill advances in House
A U.S. stablecoin bill has advanced in the House Financial Services Committee with bipartisan support, driven by heavy crypto industry spending and President Donald Trump's backing. The bill requires stablecoins to be backed one-to-one with reserves in dollars or government debt.
House Republicans outline bank regulatory priorities
House Republicans, led by Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., have sent letters to top financial regulators urging them to reverse several Biden-era banking rules. Their priorities include rescinding the revamped Community Reinvestment Act, rolling back Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules on overdraft fees and medical debt, and pausing Basel III endgame standards. The lawmakers said recent regulations have hurt innovation and access to financial services, especially for families and small businesses.
Banks likely to benefit as Treasury forgoes paper checks
President Donald Trump's executive order directing the Treasury Department to shift to digital payments instead of paper checks for federal disbursements is likely to help banks' efforts to combat check fraud. The executive order outlines concerns with paper checks, including "unnecessary costs; delays; and risks of fraud, lost payments, theft, and inefficiencies." The move comes as check fraud has risen amid the proliferation of mobile deposits and digital check imaging.
Read more from American Banker
Treasury indicates CDFI Fund programs are statutory
The Treasury Department said the 11 Community Development Financial Institutions Fund programs are required by law, according to a report submitted to the Office of Management and Budget that outlines the statutory basis for each CDFI program. The report comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to cut nonstatutory portions of federal programs.
IRS turns to banking data to tackle financial crimes
The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation unit said primary subjects with related Bank Secrecy Act filings were involved in 87.3% of the unit's criminal inquiries that were recommended for prosecution from fiscal years 2022 through 2024. The recently introduced CI-FIRST initiative aims to strengthen partnerships with financial institutions by improving information sharing and streamlining investigative processes.
Read more from CPA Practice Advisor
FDIC streamlines crypto activity rules for banks
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has removed a requirement for banks to seek prior approval before engaging in crypto-related activities, allowing them to participate as long as they manage associated risks. This move is part of a broader effort among regulators to revisit 2022 interagency guidance that imposed stricter oversight on digital asset involvement. The policy shift follows the Trump administration's recent Crypto Summit, where officials advocated for reducing regulatory barriers to crypto-banking partnerships.