U.S. Financial Regulatory Week Ahead

Jul 7

The House is Poised to Vote on Landmark Crypto Legislation, Banks Ponder Coming Fed and Treasury Regulatory Moves, and Will There Be Bee Hives at the Fed?

July 7 - 11, 2025

We hope you had a wonderful 4th of July holiday. It was a beautiful weekend here in Washington. Now, the nation’s capital is slowly getting back to work slowly this week after the mammoth effort last effort to hammer out and pass President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), getting it to his desk for signature by his deadline of July 4th. It has left Congress rather exhausted, with members eagerly waiting for the August recess.

But the House of Representatives has several financial services-focused matters they are diving into this week. First, the House is likely to take up for passage three landmark crypto legislation this week (but we think it will slip until next week). The bills would 1) create a framework for dollar-pegged stablecoins (H.R. 2392 The Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy Action of 2025, otherwise known as the STABLE Act) 2) ban central banks digital currencies (H.R. 1919, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance Act), and 3) define which regulators have oversight over digital assets (H.R. 2633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 – otherwise known as the CLARITY Act).

How the House will move the bills – will they combine them all into one? Or one at a time? – remains unclear. And the White House and Senate Republicans are pushing the House to instead adopt the Senate-passed stablecoin bill known as the GENIUS Act (S.1582, The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act). We will update you when we get some more clarity on the strategy the House leadership wants to take.

The House Financial Services Committee is busy this week holding two interesting hearings this week looking at the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act, suggesting the committee is looking at ways to reform and amend the 15-year-old law.

We would also note something else going on with Congress and from one regulator – a not-so-subtle, steady stream of calls for a full-blown investigation of Fed Chair Jay Powell and the Fed. The regulator making the accusations is Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, who publicly called on Congress to investigate Powell for “political bias” as well as for renovations taking place at the Federal Reserve. Pulte – whose supporters have been not so quietly whispering he should be considered as the next Fed Chair – accused Powell of “malfeasance” that is “worthy of ‘for cause’ removal from the Chair.

From the congressional side, Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) raised his concerns directly with Powell over the renovations during Powell’s recent testimony before the Banking Committee – concerns he repeated on the Sunday morning news shows yesterday. What is so outlandish about the renovations? Supposedly, there is a special VIP dining room being built, special elevators, a new roof terrace garden that would include beehives – all of which Powell has denied as being true (note: as a beekeeper myself, I think it would be very cool to have bees at the Fed. They could sell the honey to help pay down the debt – just a suggestion…).

Finally, with OBBBA out of the way and crypto legislation moving, banks are increasingly curious about what Fed regulatory and supervisory changes are going to be coming under Fed Vice Chair Michelle Bowman. The Fed is holding a conference on July 22 on large bank capital requirements. And likely other big regulatory shifts are going to come – but what exactly they will has become a giant guessing game among bank lobbyists.

Additionally, the Treasury Department, which seems to be the busiest place in Washington overseeing trade talks, the details of OBBBA, and a host of other issues, is planning to play a greater role in financial regulation. Back in April, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke at the American Bankers Association Washington Summit and said Treasury’s involvement could come in several ways, such as a more active Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) or the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets. And there are still rumors floating around about a possible merger of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), along with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

All this suggests we are going to have a very busy fall when Congress gets back from its August recess. But for now, below are the meetings and events happening this week in Washington of note:

U.S. Congressional Hearings

U.S. Senate

· Wednesday, July 9, 10:00 a.m. – The Senate Banking Committee holds a hearing entitled “From Wall Street to Web3: Building Tomorrow’s Digital Asset Markets.”

House of Representatives

· Tuesday, July 8, 10:00 a.m. – The House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing entitled “Main Street or Mandates? How Dodd-Frank Closed the Door on Financial Opportunities.” You can read the committee memorandum on the hearing and the legislation they will be considering during the hearing HERE.

· Wednesday, July 9, 10:00 a.m. – The House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Capital Markets holds a hearings entitled “Fifteen Years of Dodd-Frank: Assessing the Costs, Consequences, and Path Forward for U.S. Capital Markets.”

· Wednesday, July 9, 2:00 p.m. – The House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Housing & Insurance holds a hearing entitled “HOME 2.0: Modern Solutions to the Housing Shortage.”

Federal Department & Regulatory Agency

Meetings & Events

Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks

· Thursday, July 10, 1:15 p.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher J. Waller entitled “Balance Sheet” at a Conversation with Federal Reserve Governor Christopher J. Waller, hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth, Dallas, Texas

U.S. Treasury Department