Congressional Hearings This Week

U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services Hearing: Oversight of Prudential Regulators: Ensuring the Safety, Soundness, Diversity, and Accountability of Depository Institutions

Prudential regulation of insured depository institutions is divided among four Federal regulators, consisting of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Fed), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).

Section 1108 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) requires the Vice Chairman for Supervision of the Fed to testify before the Committee regarding the Fed’s supervision and regulation of depository institutions and other financial firms. This hearing fulfills that requirement and provides oversight of all four Federal prudential regulators. As of June 30, 2022, there were 4,771 FDIC-insured banks. Most of these institutions are community banks; for example, 4,612 of these banks held less than $10 billion in total assets (97%).

Between the second quarter of 2021 and the same quarter this year, banks made $64.4 billion in profits, and total assets rose by more than $944 billion (4.1% increase) to nearly $23.7 trillion. Total loans and leases outstanding held by banks at the end of June 2022 increased to $11.7 trillion (8.4% increase). In addition, there were 4,853 NCUA-insured credit unions with 132.6 million members as of June 30, 2022. At the end of June 2022, nearly 86% of credit unions had less than $500 million in assets. Between the second quarter of 2021 and the same quarter this year, credit union assets increased 8.1% to $2.14 trillion. Total loans outstanding held by these credit unions increased to $1.39 trillion (16.2% increase).


U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Hearing: Oversight of Financial Regulators: A Strong Banking and Credit Union System for Main Street

The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a hearing entitled, “Oversight of Financial Regulators: A Strong Banking and Credit Union System for Main Street.” The witnesses included: The Honorable Michael S. Barr, Vice Chair for Supervision, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; The Honorable Todd M. Harper, Chair, National Credit Union Administration; The Honorable Martin J. Gruenberg, Acting Chair, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; and Mr. Michael J. Hsu, Acting Comptroller, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.