report July 2, 2021 What role should the SEC play in ESG investing? Environmental Social Governance (ESG) issues continue to climb in importance for many investors and policy makers. What role should public policy and financial regulation play in response to ESG concerns? These questions are of particular importance for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) tasked with protecting America’s capital markets and American investors. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce will share her perspective... By Brookings Institute, Financial Regulation Brookings Institute
report July 1, 2021 The future of bank overdraft fees Bank overdraft fees have been on the rise for many years as income volatility rises and more Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck. Federal bank regulators have done little to help American families, failing to speed up America’s payment system to address one of the many root causes of overdrafts (slow deposit times) while giving a thumbs up to banks who choose... By Brookings Institute, Financial Regulation Brookings Institute
report June 29, 2021 Report of the Task Force on Financial Stability Following the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-09, the U.S. and other economies shored up the resilience of their banks through more demanding capital and liquidity requirements and rigorous stress testing. The disruptions of financial markets at the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 underscored the vulnerabilities of markets and institutions that comprise the important—and growing—nonbank sector of the... By Brookings Institute, U.S. Economy Brookings Institute
report June 25, 2021 Overdraft fees are big money for small banks Once upon a time, if you tried swiping your debit card to buy something and your bank account was empty what happened was simple: Nothing. The register denied your payment. This happened all the time, particularly to Americans living paycheck-to-paycheck. Then banks figured out that they could cover the overdraft for their customers with little risk and charge quite a... By Brookings Institute, Financial Institutions Brookings Institute
report June 21, 2021 Bank regulator’s True Lender Rule undercuts bank regulatory protections and shelters predatory lending A recent rule by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), a federal bank regulator, threatens to upend the rights and responsibilities between banks and their nonbank lender partners, displacing state regulators and subjecting consumers to predatory loans. The U.S. Senate has already, with a bipartisan vote, passed legislation to rescind the rule, using a mechanism called... By Brookings Institute, Financial Regulation, Uncategorized Brookings Institute
report June 18, 2021 How the SEC can protect investors, companies, and the public from another Texas power crisis The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is considering making important changes in disclosure requirements to reflect the growing recognition that climate change poses significant risks to the U.S. financial system. This week, hundreds of investors, companies, and concerned Americans responded to the SEC’s request for public input on climate change disclosure. Recent Brookings analysis co-authored by one of us on the... By Brookings Institute, Climate Change Brookings Institute
report June 16, 2021 Task Force on Financial Stability: Report release For the past year and a half, the Task Force on Financial Stability has been identifying gaps in the financial regulatory architecture and other features of the financial system that make it insufficiently resilient to adverse developments. Co-sponsored by the Hutchins Center at Brookings and the Initiative on Global Markets at the Chicago Booth School of Business, the task force recommends ways... By Brookings Institute, Event Brookings Institute
report June 3, 2021 As the EU debates rules for its economy, a more ambitious political vision is inevitable A year ago, the European Union arrived at a Hamiltonian moment. The sense of human solidarity in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and the deaths it was causing pushed European leaders to make unprecedented choices. The heart attack suffered by the economy justified a surge of concrete and mutual support. To manifest it, fiscal rules constraining member states’... By Brookings Institute, European Union Brookings Institute
report May 18, 2021 Measuring the financial health of Americans Executive summary It is often said that what gets measured gets managed. It’s no wonder, then, that the federal government has been challenged to improve the financial health of American families. Despite all of the data the government collects and analyzes, the reality is that we do not have an accepted method of assessing financial health nor the right data... By Brookings Institute Brookings Institute
report April 29, 2021 Universal bank accounts necessary for families to bank on Child Tax Credit The expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) enacted into law as part of the American Rescue Plan should provide major benefits to millions of families, but there’s a catch: people need to be able to receive the money. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that Uncle Sam struggles to get money to families. Stimulus payments were sent out slowly, and... By Brookings Institute Brookings Institute
