FRB, OCC, FDIC, CFPB and Treasury Testify before the Senate Banking Committee

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a hearing to evaluate the progress that U.S. regulators have made toward implementing various provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. The Committee heard testimony from, among others, FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg; Federal Reserve Governor Daniel K. Tarullo; Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry; CFPB Director Richard Cordray; and Mary Miller, Under Secretary for Domestic Finance at the Treasury.

• Governor Tarullo's testimony discussed both the Federal Reserve's recent regulatory activity and the agency's priorities for 2013. On the former, Governor Tarullo mentioned the Federal Reserve's issuance of final stress testing rules, the Basel III proposals, and the Federal Reserve's recent proposal to implement various enhanced prudential standards and early remediation requirements for foreign banks. In terms of priorities for 2013, Governor Tarullo highlighted four points: (i) continuing Dodd-Frank and Basel III regulatory implementation work; (ii) further development of systemic supervision of large banking firms; (iii) improving the resolvability of large banking firms; and (iv) reducing systemic risk in the shadow banking system. In discussing specific proposals, Governor Tarullo acknowledged the view that the proposed Basel III rules were too complex, and stated that regulators hope to finalize Basel III rulemaking this spring. On the Volcker Rule, Governor Tarullo stated that regulators had made "significant progress" toward drafting a final rule. On the swaps "push-out" rule, Governor Tarullo stated that regulators expect to issue guidance on the implementation of the rule before the effective date of the provision (July 16, 2013, though erroneously noted as "July 21" in Tarullo's written testimony).

• Comptroller Curry's testimony discussed the integration of the former Office of Thrift Supervision into the OCC, the completed Dodd-Frank rulemakings, and ongoing rulemakings. Unlike Governor Tarullo, Comptroller Curry generally did not provide timeframes for ongoing rulemakings.

• Chairman Gruenberg's testimony addressed the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act on the restoration of the Deposit Insurance Fund, the FDIC's efforts toward developing the ability to resolve large financial institutions, and the FDIC's progress on certain other rulemakings, including the Volcker Rule and community banking intiatives.

• Director Cordray's testimony discussed the CFPB's recently issued mortgage rules, including the ability-to-repay rule, mortgage loan original rules, and mortgage servicing rules.

• Under Secretary Miller's testimony discussed Treasury's efforts in creating the Financial Stability Oversight Council, the Office of Financial Research, and the Federal Insurance Office, as well as Treasury's efforts to coordinate Dodd-Frank rulemaking between various agencies.

See: FRB Governor Tarullo's testimony; OCC Comptroller Curry's testimony; FDIC Chairman Gruenberg's testimony; CFPB Director Cordray's testimony; and Treasury Under Secretary Miller's testimony.
Related News Items: Senate Banking Committee Hearing: "Wall Street Reform - Oversight of Financial Stability and Consumer and Investor Protections" (with Video and Highlights); CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler Delivers Speech before the Senate Banking Committee and SEC Chairman Walter Delivers Speech before the Senate Banking Committee.