With the regulatory relief provided by the CARES Act set to expire at the end of this year, many banking industry professionals are calling for Congress to extend the relief into 2021.

This Wednesday, September 16, the Federal Reserve (Fed) signaled during their Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting that interest rates will be kept between 0 – 0.25%, with some FOMC members indicating that rates could stay anchored near zero through 2023.

As economic growth continues to move at a slow pace, some Federal Reserve (Fed) officials are publicly calling for Congress to pass measures that would increase spending on several COVID-related relief programs.

The recent proposal by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to increase GSE capital levels by more than five times could lead to an uptick in housing prices according to several mortgage industry members and the GSEs themselves.

In a recent interview with NPR, Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Powell stated that while there are some signs the economy is recovering from the pandemic, he expects the recovery to “get harder from here” and that we won’t know the actual pace of recovery “with any clarity for a couple more months.”

On August 31, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a no-action letter that provides additional relief to swap dealers and other market participants related to the transition away from LIBOR.

On Thursday, September 3, SFA submitted a letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in response to its proposal concerning when national banks or federal savings associations (a “Bank”) make loans and are the “true lender”.

On Monday, August 31, PIMCO submitted a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) warning them that their enterprise capital proposal could threaten the housing finance market by forcing the sale of mortgage bonds and boosting interest rates.

After the Federal Reserve (Fed) released changes to future Fed policy last Thursday, many economists warn that the economic tools it once had could be less effective in dealing with future economic crises. “The Fed is never going to say the cupboard is bare because that’s alarming. But they’ve reached the area of very rapidly diminishing returns,” said former New York Fed President William Dudley.

On July 29, SFA joined six trade groups including ACLI, AFSA, Equipment Leasing and Finance Association, Marketplace Lending Association, Mortgage Bankers Association, and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors in signing a letter that was sent to House and Senate Leadership.