Week in Review

Economic relief 

  • In a 52-47 vote, the $300 billion coronavirus economic relief package stalled in the Senate after being blocked by Democratic lawmakers, who have said they would accept a bill with a $2.2 trillion price tag. Democrats had argued that the Senate GOP bill doesn’t provide enough aid, and after the vote, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the bill “emaciated, inadequate and designed to fail.”
  • The Justice Department said that nearly 500 individuals are suspected of coronavirus-related loan fraud and that federal law enforcement has opened “several hundred” investigations, with charges already filed against more than 50 people. Later, the DOJ announced new charges in a case that is focusing on applications for about $24 million in loans and involves 11 people including Joshua Bellamy, a former wide receiver for the New York Jets.
  • The Senate GOP economic stimulus package would have cut $200 billion in Federal Reserve crisis funding, which would limit the central bank’s ability to create new lending programs or expand its existing ones, as Senate Republicans and the Trump administration look to reduce the legislation’s price tag. 

Banks

  • JPMorgan Chase & Co. has fired several workers who are accused of taking money under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program that was meant to help businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic with grants up to $10,000, according to a person familiar with the situation. The JPMorgan staff members who had deposited suspicious funds through the program in their Chase checking accounts made up a “very small” part of the suspicious activity the bank found after the Small Business Administration asked banks to probe any suspicious activity related to the program, the person said.

Climate change

  • The Commodity Futures Trading Commission found that climate change is a risk to financial markets as wildfires, storms, droughts and floods impact insurance markets, mortgage markets and pension funds. The report recommends that bank regulators begin a pilot climate risk stress testing program; the Financial Stability Oversight Council should include climate risks in its annual report and communications with Congress; and the Securities and Exchange Commission should strengthen requirements that push publicly traded companies to disclose climate change risks.

What’s Ahead

  • The House and the Senate are in session. 
  • The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions will hold its Congressional Caucus virtually on Monday and Tuesday.
  • The Federal Reserve Federal Open Markets Committee will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Events Calendar (All Times Local)

09/14/2020
NAFCU Virtual Congressional Caucus
Digital Mortgage 2020
09/15/2020
NAFCU Virtual Congressional Caucus
Women in Housing & Finance event: “Access to Credit: How Inclusive Is the U.S. Financial System” 12:00 pm
CFPB Listening Session with Members of the Bureau’s Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law 2:30 pm
09/16/2020
House Financial Services Committee hearing: “Prioritizing Fannie’s and Freddie’s Capital over America’s Homeowners and Renters? A Review of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic” 12:00 pm
Women in Housing & Finance event: “FRB Control Framework” 12:00 pm
SIFMA webinar: LIBOR – Preparing for Alternative Reference Rates 1:00 pm
09/17/2020
SIFMA Equity Market Structure Conference
House Financial Services Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets hearing: “Insider Trading and Stock Option Grants: An Examination of Corporate Integrity in the Covid-19 Pandemic” 12:00 pm
View full calendar

Watch the Webinar On Demand – The Gen Z Threat

Recently, Morning Consult hosted a webinar breaking down our latest report, Gen Z’s Most Loved Brands of 2020.

You can access a recording of the webinar here for insight into how the pandemic is transforming Gen Z’s relationship with brands, and how brands should adapt to meet the changing expectations of this generation of the future.

Morning Consult Finance Top Reads

1) The Trump vs. Obama economy — in 16 charts
Heather Long, The Washington Post

2) Three charts that show the US economy is going extreme
John Detrixhe and Dan Kopf, Quartz

3) Federal Report Warns of Financial Havoc From Climate Change
Carol Davenport and Jeanna Smialek, The New York Times

4) Lawmakers Tackle Spending Deadline, Look to Revive Coronavirus Aid Talks
Kristina Peterson and Natalie Andrews, The Wall Street Journal

5) JPMorgan Probing Employees’ Role in Misuse of Relief Funds
Michelle F Davis and Sridhar Natarajan, Bloomberg

6) White House looks at more executive actions as coronavirus-relief talks appear finished
Erica Werner and Jeff Stein, The Washington Post

7) Senate Republicans propose scrapping $200bn for Fed crisis lending
James Politi, Financial Times

8) Change in job postings on Indeed in 2020 vs. 2019, by state
Erica Pandey, Axios

9) Fed’s Main Street Lending Program Open for Nonprofit Borrowers
Christopher Condon, Bloomberg

10) The Tax Cut for the Rich That Democrats Love
Richard V. Reeves and Christopher Pulliam, The New York Times

Morning Consult