WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve will
vote on Friday on whether to propose rules to subject foreign
banks to tighter capital and liquidity requirements, to protect
taxpayers from having to bail out foreign banks.

The plan would force foreign banks to subsume all their
subsidiaries under one U.S. holding company, subject to the same
capital standards as U.S. holding companies, and the banks will
also need to hold liquidity buffers.

By Emily Stephenson

(Reuters) – Efforts by small banks to protect a financial crisis-era deposit insurance program suffered a significant setback on Thursday when a bill to extend the program failed to survive a procedural vote in the U.S. Senate.

The Transaction Account Guarantee (TAG) program insures bank deposits above the $250,000 normally covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp in checking accounts that do not collect interest. It is set to expire at the end of the year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Wall Street critic and Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren will join the Senate Banking Committee next year where she is likely to be a loud voice in favor of tight financial regulation.

The Democratic Steering Committee on Wednesday approved committee assignments for Warren and other Senate Democrats, installing Senator Patty Murray of Washington state as chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee.

WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate voted on
Tuesday to begin debating a bill that would keep a financial
crisis-era deposit insurance program in place for two more
years, but it will likely face strong opposition from the
Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Separately, the Senate passed two non-controversial
legislative fixes to financial regulations that have been called
for by the financial services industry. These changes will now
go to President Barack Obama for his signature.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to begin debating a bill that would keep a financial crisis-era deposit insurance program in place for two more years, but it will likely face strong opposition from the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

The Transaction Account Guarantee (TAG) program insures bank deposits above $250,000, the amount the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp normally covers, in checking accounts that do not collect interest. It is due to expire at the end of the year.

Dec 11 (Reuters) – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is asking
federal officials to consider whether a proposed proprietary
trading ban undermines U.S. trade policy, part of an ongoing
effort by industry groups to push back against the so-called
Volcker rule.

The controversial rule, which is required by the 2010
Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law, would block banks from making
speculative trades with their own money. It was named for former
Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, who pushed for the ban.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. banking industry’s third-quarter earnings were the highest for any quarter since 2006 as revenue growth picked up and banks set aside less money to guard against losses, according to data released on Tuesday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The FDIC quarterly report showed the industry earned $37.6 billion in the third quarter – up $2.3 billion, or 6.6 percent, from a year earlier.

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) – Two influential Republican
lawmakers on Thursday asked U.S. regulators to delay the
effective date of the controversial ban on proprietary trading
known as the Volcker rule, which financial regulators are still
writing.

The 2010 Dodd-Frank law charged five financial regulatory
agencies with crafting the rule to prevent banks from making
speculative trades with their own money.

By Emily Stephenson

(Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers and state financial regulators on Thursday called on federal officials to revamp proposed rules that would force financial firms to hold much more capital, asking them to consider the impact on small banks and insurance companies.

U.S. bank regulators are writing rules to implement an international accord known as Basel III. The agreement is seen as one of the key reform efforts after the 2007-2009 financial crisis to make the global banking system more resilient.

Nov 29 (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers and state financial
regulators on Thursday called on federal officials to revamp
proposed rules that would force financial firms to hold much
more capital, asking them to consider the impact on small banks
and insurance companies.

U.S. bank regulators are writing rules to implement an
international accord known as Basel III. The agreement is seen
as one of the key reform efforts after the 2007-2009 financial
crisis to make the global banking system more resilient.