U.S. Financial Regulatory Week Ahead

Aug 10

President Trump’s Big Week in Financial Services: Opens Up 401(k)’s Investments, Signs an Executive Order on Debanking, Names a New Fed Governor, and Meets Wall Street CEOs to Get Advice on Privatizing the GSEs

August 11 - 15, 2025

We warned you it would not be a quiet August in Washington. Despite Congress and most Washington movers and shakers being on vacation, President Trump was very busy on a number of financial fronts. On Thursday, he signed an Executive Order (EO) to allow 401(k)s to invest in private equity, cryptocurrency, and real estate. That EO instructs the Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission to provide guidance to employers and plan administrators on such investments.

The President quickly followed that up with another EO directing bank regulators to look into whether banks discriminate on political and religious grounds that lead to them “debanking” clients – something that happened to Trump after the January 6th riot on Capitol Hill.

We also learned this week that the President met with Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and Citi CEO Jane Fraser to get their ideas on how to privatize the two giant government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The House Financial Services Committee let it be known this past week that they intend to take up legislation in early 2026 to refloat both entities, which were taken over by the US government after the 2008 financial crisis.

And to top it all off, the President was able to name a new Federal Reserve Board Governor following the resignation of Governor Andriana Kugler. Trump named the current Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, Stephen Miran, to fill her seat (which is set to expire in January). While the addition of Miran to the Federal Reserve Board will not necessarily tip the balance of governors voting for a rate cut - Miran won’t be confirmed by the Senate in time for the September Federal Open Markets Committee (FMOC) meeting – it will tip the balance on any votes the Fed Board makes on regulatory issues. The FMOC is composed of all seven members of the Board of Governors and the President of the New York Fed, plus four rotating regional Fed governors. But when the Fed votes on any regulatory issues – like the recent large bank capital rule – it is only the seven-member board of governors casting votes. Long story short: Miran’s joining the board is a big win for Vice Chair Michelle Bowman as she will have a majority of support as she moves to reshape and reform the larger financial regulatory architecture.

The only other big news of the week was that a federal judge ruled the Federal Reserve exceeded its authority on setting limits on debt card interchange fees – a victory for merchants that had opposed the banks and the Fed on the rule. Undoubtedly, this is headed to the appellate court and then probably the Supreme Court.

So what is going to happen this coming week? Right now, there is really not much on the calendar among the regulators other than the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation holding a board meeting. And the House Financial Services Committee’s National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institution Subcommittee is holding a field hearing in Riverside, Ohio, on “Securing the Supply Chain.”

And that is about it. We hope you have a great week.

U.S. Congressional Hearings

U.S. Senate

· The Senate is out of session for the August recess and will return on September 1.

House of Representatives

· The House is out of session for the August recess and will return on September 2. However, the House Financial Services Committee’s National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions Subcommittee field hearing on "Securing the Supply Chain: The Defense Production Act in Focus." The hearing is being held at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Riverside, Ohio.

Federal Department & Regulatory Agency Meetings & Events

Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks