How Banks Clouded the CLARITY Act's Future

Former Treasury undersecretary Jonathan McKernan explains why the department took a more active role coordinating bank regulation and what officials hoped to accomplish with a broader regulatory reset. He also discusses lessons from the 2023 bank failures, changes to capital, liquidity and AML rules, and how AI could reshape deposit competition and the banking system itself.

Brendan Pedersen, financial services reporter for Punchbowl News, breaks down why the CLARITY Act's prospects have deteriorated, including a renewed revolt by community banks over stablecoin yield and growing Democratic resistance to the crypto industry. He also discusses whether crypto's political clout is beginning to fade and a potential challenge to Maxine Waters for leadership of the House Financial Services Committee.

Penny Crosman, American Banker's executive editor for technology, discusses why some banks dominate AI-generated answers while others are nearly invisible, including tackling what community banks can do to improve their visibility.   

Over the past year and a half, Acting CFPB Russell Vought has sought to largely shut down the CFPB by severely cutting staff, stopping enforcement actions and cutting back on supervision. But with the nomination of a new director, Brian Johnson, is that about to change? Alan Kaplinsky, senior counsel at Ballard Spahr and author of the Consumer Finance Monitor blog and host of its weekly podcast, discusses how the CFPB may change and what it will mean for banks. 

Lindsey Johnson, president and CEO of the Consumer Bankers Association, talks about why affordability concerns are putting renewed political pressure on banks over credit card rates, overdraft and late fees. She also tackles the future of the CFPB, open banking, crypto legislation, agentic AI and why she's optimistic in the fight against fraud.

Brian Gardner, chief Washington policy strategist at Stifel, tackles how durable the Trump administration's fast-moving regulatory and other changes are likely to be for banks. He discusses what banks still misunderstand about Washington, why the M&A environment is improving, what Kevin Warsh's first press conference signaled, and what the midterm elections could mean for bank regulation if Democrats win back one chamber or both.

Michael Bright, CEO of the Structured Finance Association and a former head of Ginnie Mae, joins the show to discuss the state of the U.S. housing finance system nearly two decades after the financial crisis. He explains why he does not think the system is fundamentally broken, what policymakers still misunderstand about the secondary mortgage market, and how issues like GSE reform, Basel III, private credit and fraud could reshape housing finance in the years ahead.

Alex Johnson, founder of Fintech Takes, details why many banks are thinking about AI the wrong way. He updates his views on stablecoins vs. tokenized deposits, discusses why fintech competition remains a potent threat to banks and talks about why the bigger issue may be how customers use AI to make financial decisions.

Banks have fought a comprehensive effort to ensure stablecoins cannot offer yield. But the Senate Banking Committee passed a bill that the banking industry still says falls short. Does that mean banks have lost the fight? Will a crypto market structure bill pass this year? Brendan Pedersen of Punchbowl News offers insights into the current and future state of play.

Andrew Olmem, managing partner of Mayer Brown's Washington office and a former deputy director of the National Economic Council, talks about how the second Trump administration has moved much faster than the first to reshape financial regulation. He discusses why he believes bank supervision became too bureaucratic and too focused on process, how the administration is approaching capital and the Fed, and what stablecoins, the Clarity Act and OCC preemption could mean for the future of the regulatory system.