On March 31, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rescinded seven policy statements issued last year that provided "temporary flexibilities" during the pandemic in consumer financial markets.

On March 24, the New York State Legislature approved a bill presented by the Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC), and supported by SFA, to clarify and promote financial stability as market participants prepare for the discontinuation of LIBOR. The bill now heads to Governor Cuomo for his signature.

In a speech on March 23, Federal Reserve (Fed) Governor Lael Brainard announced the formation of the Financial Stability Climate Committee. The move reaffirms the government's commitment to assessing the risks that climate change poses to the financial system, which was echoed by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell during a Congressional hearing this week.

On Wednesday, March 10, the Senate voted 66-34 to confirm President Biden's nomination of Representative Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH) as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Before running for Congress in 2008, Fudge served as mayor of Warrensville Heights for eight years. Fudge is expected to put affordable housing issues at the top of her agenda for the department.

This week, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act which was signed by President Biden on March 11. The measure includes $1,400 direct payments for those earning less than $75,000/year ($150,000/year for married joint filers), extended increased federal unemployment insurance payments of $300/week through September, $170 billion to help reopen schools, $100 billion to expand vaccine distribution, and an expanded child tax credit that could provide up to $3,600 per child in financial support.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell advise caution as risks to financial stability remain evident. Yellen told the New York Times in a recent interview that large financial institutions are in a much better shape now than they were during the financial crisis.

On February 11, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it will be rolling back a policy that would allow publicly traded companies to easily secure waivers when faced wth securities law violations.

An exemption ordered last May by the Federal Reserve (Fed) to ease one of the key capital rules for large banks is due to expire on March 31, according to Risk.Net. The previous exemption originally allowed banks to exclude U.S. Treasury securities and deposits at Fed banks from the calculation of their supplementary leverage ratios.

The Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday its policy decisions to keep interest rates at the current low levels and initiating a bond purchase program of $120 billion per month, keeping “stimulative measures in place until its goals of lower unemployment and 2% inflation are achieved.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that the terms of the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will not be fundamentally restructured under the Trump administration. Instead, on January 14 the Department of Treasury and the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced a more modest amendment to the Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements.