Echoing a similar statement made by the financial regulatory agencies earlier this week, the Securities and Exchange Commission today affirmed that its regulatory guidance is nonbinding.

In an important joint statement issued today, the financial regulatory agencies clarified the role of supervisory guidance in bank supervision, noting that it “does not have the force and effect of law.”

The Treasury Department today issued a long-awaited report recommending changes to laws and regulations affecting nonbank financial providers and the broader fintech environment.

The House by a vote of 217 to 199 today passed H.R. 6147, a minibus appropriations bill which included a number of financial services provisions backed by the American Bankers Association.

In the latest in its series of comment letters to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau responding to the bureau’s 12 requests for information, ABA emphasized the important role of clear and agency-binding guidance in facilitating compliance with regulations and added that guidance should not be used as a basis for enforcement actions.

The Federal Reserve should clarify that agency guidance and other statements not issued via notice-and-comment rulemaking do not establish binding legal standards, Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) said in a letter to Fed leadership yesterday.

For Jim Edwards, a third-generation banker and the chairman and CEO of United Bank Corp. in Zebulon, Ga., community banking is about providing a "high-touch" experience.

In a comment letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today -- the third of 12 the association will submit as part of the bureau’s ongoing feedback initiative -- ABA called on the bureau to seek resolution of regulatory violations and compliance management weakness through the supervisory process rather than rushing to enforcement actions.

ABA yesterday welcomed the Federal Reserve's recently proposed amendments to its appeals process guidelines and urged more action by the Fed to enhance its exam appeals process.

The Federal Reserve is looking at revising both Community Reinvestment Act regulations and the way the agency examines for CRA compliance, Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles said today.