Acting FDIC Chairman Travis Hill today released a list of priorities for the agency in coming months, promising to revisit the FDIC’s process for reviewing proposed bank mergers, to take a more “open-minded” approach to bank adoption of technology and to rescind “problematic” Biden-era proposed rules, such as those on brokered deposits and corporate governance.
President Trump designed Hill as acting chairman following the departure of former FDIC Martin Gruenberg. In announcing the list of priorities, Hill said the FDIC “always will fulfill our mandate to promote a safe, sound and resilient banking system.”
Hill said the FDIC will conduct a wholesale review of regulations, guidance and manuals “to ensure our rules and approach promote a vibrant, growing economy.” Among the items targeted for review is a 2024 statement on bank merger policy that Hill opposed as FDIC vice chairman. Among other things, the policy revised the FDIC merger review process to consider concentrations on products and services beyond those based on deposits, such as the volume of small business or residential loan originations.
Hill said the FDIC will replace the policy “to ensure that merger transactions that satisfy the Bank Merger Act are approved in a timely way.” As for technology adoption, he said the agency will embrace a more transparent approach to fintech partnerships and to digital assets and tokenization. It will also work to address the growing technology costs of community banks.
Other FDIC priorities include withdrawing proposed rules on brokered deposits and corporate governance, directing supervisors to focus more on core financial risks, re-evaluating the supervisory appeals process, modernizing implementation of the Bank Secrecy Act, and studying deposit behavior “to develop a more sophisticated understanding of the relative stability of different types of deposits and depositors.”
In related news, the FDIC announced today that it has withdrawn from the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System, which was launched to tackle climate change risk in the financial sector. The FDIC said the work of the coalition “is not within the FDIC’s authorities and mandate.” The Federal Reserve pulled out of the coalition last week.
