Financial Regulatory Week Ahead

Aug 31

August 31 - September 4, 2026

Washington Begins Wandering Back to Work, G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Heads Gather in North Carolina, and the NCUA Has a New Chair

Labor Day – the traditional “end of summer” – is still a week away, but Washington is slowly getting back to work. Very slowly.

First, the House of Representatives is in session this week, but only for four days. They go back out of session Thursday for the Labor Day week. The Senate remains out of session and is scheduled to come back September 14th.

Nevertheless, the House Financial Services Committee is holding a hearing this week entitled “Strengthening the American Economy: Promoting Growth, Opportunity, and Prosperity.” Among those testifying will be New York Stock Exchange President Lynn Mark and Circle President Heath Talbert. The Committee also appears to be preparing to discuss and possibly vote on H.R. 7866, the American Lending Fairness Act of 2026, sponsored by Representative Warren Davidson (R-OH). The aim of the bill is to clarify state opt-out rules regarding interest rate caps under the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980.

A companion bill was introduced in the Senate back in March by Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH), and both bills are strongly supported by the American Bankers Association and a host of other financial trade groups.

But we have to ask with respect: “what’s the point?” When you consider the House has less than 16 days left on the legislative calendar, there is virtually no time at all to advance this bill through the House and then the Senate and then to the President’s desk for signature. (We would also note there was news this morning the House work calendar may be cut in half as Republican members are pressing House Leaders to grant them more time to campaign back home in advance of the midterms).

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is hosting the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Heads Ministerial meeting in Asheville, North Carolina on Monday and Tuesday. Financial regulation isn’t a major theme of the conference; instead, the talks are dominated by Iran sanctions (and the US Treasury’s growing list of foreign banks it intends to sanction for helping the Iranian economy), global economic growth, and trade.

Looking at last week’s events, we would note the SEC late last week sent a new rule proposal over to the White House regarding investment advisors holding digital assets for clients. The purpose of the draft regulation is to “clarify the framework for the custody of crypto assets” for investment advisors and investment companies and comes in response to advisors and firms on how to actually hold crypto assets.

The other big event last week was a new final rule from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) redefining “unsafe and unsound” practices for financial institutions – which is aimed at making it more difficult for federal bank examiners to intervene. The rule effectively raises the bar for examiners to issue Matters Requiring Attention (MRAs) for corrective action. And as part of this, according to FDIC Chair Travis Hill, the FDIC and OCC are closing, or have already closed, a “large majority” of outstanding supervisory criticisms that do not meet this new standard.

Also early last week, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) got a new chair: John Crew. As of now, he is the only member of the NCUA Board. Previously, Crew served as the Treasury Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions. He replaces Kyle Hauptman, who stayed on until Crew was sworn in. Hauptman is now serving as a member of the Public Accounting Oversight Board.

Let us know if you have any questions.

U.S. Congressional Hearings

U.S. Senate

· The Senate is in recess until September 14.

House of Representatives

· Wednesday, September 2, 10:00 a.m. – The House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing entitled “Strengthening the American Economy: Promoting Growth, Opportunity, and Prosperity.”

· Wednesday, September 2, 10:00 a.m. – The House Ways and Means Committee holds a hearing entitled “Strategic Partnerships to Secure Critical Resources and Supply Chains.”

Federal Department & Regulatory Agency Meetings & Events

The White House