The White House Council of Economic Advisers published a report arguing that banning stablecoin yield would do little to protect bank lending — estimating only a $2.1 billion increase in bank lending under baseline assumptions — while imposing a net welfare cost to consumers. The report supports the crypto industry’s
The Treasury issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking proposing that state stablecoin regulatory regimes must be “substantially similar” to the federal framework, meaning they must meet or exceed both the Genius Act’s statutory requirements and the OCC’s implementing regulations. Smaller issuers (under $10 billion) may be supervised by qualifying
Last month brought significant movement across stablecoin regulation, capital rules, merger policy, and litigation. For community banks, the common thread is a regulatory environment that is simultaneously opening doors (trust charters, capital relief, merger flexibility) while raising competitive questions (non-bank Fed access, stablecoin yield, and evolving payment technologies). The institutions
The OCC finalized the repeal of its recovery planning guidelines, which required large banks to maintain detailed playbooks for financial stress scenarios. The agency concluded that “prescriptive planning activities do little to improve their ability to manage through stress.” While this applies primarily to banks over $100 billion, it signals
Speaking to the Consumer Bankers Association’s annual conference, Fed Vice Chair Michelle Bowman announced the Fed will revisit Regulation O, which governs loans to bank insiders. The decades-old rule caps lending to executive officers at $100,000 per person—a threshold that has not kept pace with inflation. Banks have called for
The Treasury Department published a report to Congress on stablecoin use and compliance, highlighting artificial intelligence as an important compliance tool, and committing to guidance on verifiable digital credentials for customer identification. The Treasury also said it will work with Congress on legislation promoting digital identity verification and a safe
Federal regulators launched a comprehensive capital rule overhaul on March 19, reducing aggregate requirements by 7.8% for smaller banks. The proposal lowers the community bank leverage ratio threshold from 9% to 8% and replaces the flat 50% mortgage risk-weight with an LTV-based scale (35% at 80% LTV). The Fed voted
Senate Banking Committee markup of the Clarity Act remains delayed as lawmakers negotiate whether to ban stablecoin rewards. The emerging compromise would prohibit passive yield on idle balances but permit transaction-based rewards, and would bar bank-like terminology (“yield,” “APR”). ICBA estimates that allowing stablecoin yield could reduce community bank lending
The White House issued an executive order on March 13 directing agencies to consider broad reforms to mortgage lending rules across 11 areas, including origination standards, appraisals, servicing, digital processes, capital treatment, and enforcement posture. The order directs the CFPB to consider: a broader QM safe harbor for smaller banks
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City cleared Wyoming-chartered Kraken Financial for a “limited purpose” master account, making it the first crypto bank to access Fed payment rails directly. Banking trade groups immediately objected, arguing the approval “front-runs” the public comment process on the Fed’s proposed “skinny” master account framework. A
