Quarles Lays Out Opportunities for Further Regulatory Tailoring

Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee this morning, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles outlined several ways in which the Fed has already or is in the process of tailoring the post-crisis regulatory framework to promote efficiency, transparency and simplicity. Among future steps the agency might take, Quarles identified reforms to living wills, the capital planning process for the largest banks, liquidity requirements and holding company control determinations.

Specifically, he said he supported permanently shifting the living will process to a biennial basis instead of annually, calibrating liquidity requirements for global systemically important banks differently than non-GSIBs and streamlining the process for determining “control” under the Bank Holding Company Act. He added that the Fed is considering whether to expand a recent rule streamlining the CCAR process for more institutions.

In response to questions from committee members, Quarles noted that Community Reinvestment Act supervision has become “a bit formulaic and ossified” in recent years and that “we need to consider ways to apply it more effectively.” He praised the Treasury Department’s framework for CRA reform, describing it as a “good framework for consideration” as the banking agencies are revisiting the CRA supervisory approach.