The U.S. Financial Regulatory Week Ahead
Washington Shuffles Back to Work, the Trump Administration’s Deregulatory Agenda Revs Up, and Who Will Be the Next Fed Chair?
January 5 – 9, 2026
Happy New Year! We hope you had a great holiday. We did, but let’s all admit the truth: The Monday after New Year’s is always a tough one.
It is going to be a quiet week in Washington from the financial regulatory perspective. Congress gets back to work – the Senate on Monday and the House on Tuesday. But both chambers are taking it slow this week, and there are no relevant hearings or events in the financial services, agriculture, or tax space.
The only regulators with meetings scheduled this week are the SEC (a Closed Meeting) and the Farm Credit Administration (a board meeting), both on Thursday.
And there are no major speeches by any regulators this week – except for Fed Vice Chair Michelle Bowman, who will speak virtually to the California Bankers Association’s 2026 Bank Presidents’ Seminar on banking regulation. Which brings up the question of the Trump Administration’s overall financial deregulatory agenda – when does it kick into high gear and what will it entail?
In many ways, looking back at 2025, we would argue it already is in high gear. A couple of quick examples: On the securities side of the ledger, we saw President Trump in September call for the end of quarterly reporting – something SEC Chair Paul Atkins made clear he intends to pursue. Then, in December, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at curbing proxy advisors' power, another major policy goal the SEC is going to quickly undertake.
On the banking side of the ledger, the Fed led an effort to cut capital requirements for large banks (which, according to S&P Global, led America’s six largest banks to add more than $600 billion in market value in 2025). Then the OCC announced its intent to raise the threshold for “heightened expectations” of supervision.
And now that the US Senate confirmed just before Christmas the two of the three final outstanding regulatory chairs – Michael Selig to be chair of the CFTC and Travis Hill to be chair of the FDIC – we suspect the deregulatory agenda might go into turbo-drive in 2026. But what exactly comes next seems to be a multibillion-dollar question.
All of which brings us to our final point of this week’s report: There is still one regulator who needs to be named by President Trump – the next Federal Reserve Board Chair.
From what the President has been saying, we should expect that announcement in the next two weeks. Betting markets are split between National Economic Director Kevin Hassett and former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh (Kalshi has them at 43% and 38% odds, respectively, while PredictIt has it at 41¢ to 38¢, respectively). We still think Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is in the mix (which would make him the Donerail of the Fed Chair Horse Race – Kalshi and PredictIt have Bessent at only 2%/2¢ odds of getting it). And if you don’t know who Donerail was, he was a horse who won the Kentucky Derby in 1913 at 91 – 1 odds.
Below is the full report on (very few) financial regulatory-related events we found this week. Please let us know if you have any questions.
U.S. Congressional Hearings
U.S. Senate
· Monday, January 5 – The Senate returns from holiday recess. But there are no relevant hearings scheduled for the coming week.
House of Representatives
· Tuesday, January 6 – The House returns from holiday recess. But there are no relevant hearings scheduled for the coming week.
Federal Department & Regulatory Agency Meetings & Events
The White House
· Nothing significant to report.
Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks
· Wednesday, January 7, 4:10 p.m. – Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman gives a speech at the California Bankers Association Bank President’s 2026 Seminar (virtual).
· Friday, January 9, 9:00 a.m. – Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari gives welcome remarks and participates in a fireside chat before the virtual 2026 Regional Economic Conditions Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
· Friday, January 9, 9:00 a.m. – Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Tom Barkin gives an economic outlook speech to the Maryland Bankers Association First Friday Economic Outlook Forum in Baltimore, Maryland.
U.S. Treasury Department
· Nothing significant to report.
Department of Commerce
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Department of Housing and Urban Development
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Securities and Exchange Commission
· Thursday, January 8, 2:00 p.m. – The SEC holds a Closed Meeting.
Commodities Futures Trading Commission
· Nothing significant to report.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
FINRA
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
National Credit Union Administration
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Federal Trade Commission & Department of Justice Antitrust Division
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Farm Credit Administration
· Thursday, January 8, 10:00 a.m. – the FCA Board holds its first meeting of 2026. The Agenda has yet to be released.
Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
International Monetary Fund & World Bank
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
North American Securities Administrators Association
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Small Business Administration
· There are no significant events scheduled at this time.
Trade Associations & Think Tank Events
Trade Associations
· Wednesday, January 7, 9:00 a.m. (virtual) – SIFMA holds its Private Markets Roundtable on Liquidity and Transparency.
Think Tanks and Other Events
· Wednesday, January 7, 12:00 p.m. – The Federalist Society holds a webinar entitled “Regulation and Fair Access to Banking.”
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