SEC Chairman Gary Gensler speaks at the Clinton Foundation Global Initiative meeting at 11:30 a.m. Monday … Housing starts and building permits data released Tuesday … Senate Banking hearings on tightening Russian sanctions Tuesday … House Financial Services hearings on alternative payment systems Tuesday … Existing home sales data released Wednesday … House Financial Services hearing with large retail bank CEOs Wednesday … Fed policy statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell press conference Wednesday … Senate Banking hearing with big bank CEOs Thursday … Treasury Undersecretary Nellie Liang speaks at a Brookings Institution event on digital assets Thursday. CRYPTO’S ICE BATH — From Sam: “The crypto lobby applauded President Joe Biden’s March 9 executive order on digital assets as a crucial step toward bringing regulatory clarity to their industry. “They're much less pleased with its early returns. The White House unveiled a crypto policy framework on Friday that was largely focused on a litany of risks that digital asset businesses could pose … and while the papers nodded at the technology’s potential to speed up payments and financial settlements, administration officials say those outcomes remain a work in progress… “For an industry that often complains about ‘regulation by enforcement,’ this isn’t the outcome they’d hoped for. ‘It's just a focus on enforcement with no cooperation [between regulators] and no policy recommendations,’ Michelle Bond, the CEO of the Association for Digital Asset Markets, said in an interview Friday. ‘That, in my mind, is definitely a bad outcome.’” The reports also encouraged further study of a Federal Reserve-issued digital dollar — otherwise known as a central bank digital currency. Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), who released a Fed digital dollar proposal earlier this year, told POLITICO on Friday that “that there's a commitment there to keep progress going.” He added that he was encouraged that the CBDC recommendations highlighted “the importance of us remaining competitive and at the forefront of technological innovation’ BANK CEO HEARINGS — What should we expect from the big bank CEO hearings this week? A GOP Senate Banking aide tells MM: “Expect Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Senate Banking Republicans to make the case that banks should stick to the business of banking, and stay out of contentious social and political issues, like global warming, abortion, and gun control. “Republicans will send a clear warning to these financial institutions: If banks don’t reverse course, they should expect more backlash from Republicans, which could include Republicans seeking to pressure banks to advance their social and political objectives when they’re in power.” —Speaking of staying out of it: The Committee for Better Banks’ Wells Fargo Organizing Committee released a statement today calling on Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf and other big bank CEOs to publicly commit to remain neutral to workers’ union organizing efforts. TIGHTER EXPORT CONTROLS — White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday the U.S. needs to tighten its export control regime for advanced technology products, such as semiconductors, to keep foreign "competitors" from catching up, our Doug Palmer reported. NEW RULES FOR REGIONALS? — WSJ’s Andrew Ackerman scoops: “A group of President Biden-appointed bank regulators are considering new rules to require large regional banks to add to financial cushions that could be called on in times of crisis. The steps under consideration include requirements that the regional firms raise long-term debt that can help absorb losses in case of their own insolvency, according to three people familiar with the matter.” NAME YOUR PRICE — NYT’s Alan Rappeport: “As the United States and its Western counterparts race to finalize the mechanics of an oil price cap intended to starve Russia of revenue and stabilize global energy markets, a crucial question remains unresolved: How should the price be set?” — Also, Deutsche Bank in a report last week lowered its year-end forecasts for the price of crude oil, citing reduced supply risks. “Russian reprisal and deliberate curtailment of oil supply is a low probability,” research analyst Michael Hsueh wrote. Still, House Democrats are pressing President Joe Biden to keep releasing oil from the U.S.'s emergency stockpile through at least the end of the year, CNN's Matt Egan reports.
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