In December 2019, the Financial Stability Oversight Council issued its “Final Interpretive Guidance” regarding its authority to increase the Federal Reserve’s supervision of non-bank financial players and subject them to prudential standards. SFA member Laurence E. Platt, partner at Mayer Brown LLP, has reviewed the updated guidance.

While election day is still months away, conventional wisdom at this point would indicate that Republicans are likely to hold the Senate and Democrats are likely to maintain control of the House. Of course, a change in Administration would turn about significant shifts in policy and bring an end to the current cross-industry deregulatory trend.

The Education Finance Council (EFC) is working with other student loan industry leaders on a legislative solution that would transition the subsidy — called the Special Allowance Payment — paid to lenders on student loans originated under the Federal Family Education Loan Program, or FFELP, away from Libor.

A legislative solution may be necessary to ensure a smooth transition away from the London Interbank offered rate, or Libor, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin said during his testimony to the House Financial Services Committee on December 5.

As the 2021 Libor transition nears, the finance industry looks to its proposed replacement – SOFR – for answers. As the panelists at our recent Residential Mortgage Symposium made clear, 2020 will be a telling year for the proposed Libor-SOFR transition.

The FDIC and OCC recently provided a much-needed clarification to the valid-when-made doctrine. We are pleased they have appropriately recognized that bad actors need to be policed. Read more about the details of their proposed rulemaking.

It has become clear over the past decade that ESG will play an increasing role in investment considerations and strategic planning for money managers and individual investors alike. Responding to rising interest and expertise from SFA members, we’ve launched an ESG task force and are hosting an inaugural ESG Symposium on December 5th in New York.

Current co-chair of the SFA Legal Counsel Committee and former SFA Board member Chris DiAngelo analyzed their most recent victory. Here are three of his key takeaways.

Congress is back in session after the August recess and hoping to tackle several legislative priorities before the end of the year, including housing finance reform. While next steps remain unclear, here's how prominent members from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill as well as administration officials are hoping to take action on this important issue.

Whether it’s striking the balance between originators and investors when it comes to QMs, the search for a suitable replacement to Libor, or any of our other initiatives, SFA relishes the chance to have two sides of the transaction sit together and work out a policy agreement for shared betterment.