The Federal Reserve will “proceed carefully” at upcoming meetings to assess incoming data and determine interest rate policy, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said.

Inflation Target: Addressing the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s economic policy symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Powell said inflation remains too high despite recent cooling and that the Fed continues to target its 2% inflation goal.

Further Rate Hikes: Powell said the Fed is prepared to raise rates further if appropriate and to hold policy at a restrictive level until inflation moves sustainably down to toward the agency’s objective, and it remains attuned to risk-management considerations.

A state panel is recommending eliminating or consolidating more than 100 Iowa boards and commissions, the latest step in Gov. Kim Reynolds' push to shrink state government.

The preliminary recommendations come from a Tuesday meeting of the state's Boards and Commissions Review Committee, created as part of a sweeping government reorganization law Reynolds signed in April that reduced cabinet-level state government agencies from 37 to 16.

Kraig Paulsen, the committee's chair and director of the Iowa Department of Management, said the group started with a list of 256 state boards and commissions and is proposing eliminating or consolidating 116, leaving the state with 140.

After hearing from the public later this month, the committee will submit a report with final recommendations to Reynolds and the Iowa Legislature by Sept. 30. It would then be up to lawmakers to decide whether to act on the proposal.

Sen. Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, said she has some concerns about the review of boards and commissions, saying the consolidation process could limit Iowans’ involvement in, and oversight of, state government.1 |1 Learn more.1 |

The Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department have announced they are co-hosting three workshops to facilitate public dialogue on the 2023 Draft Merger Guidelines the agencies announced in July.

The workshops are aimed at promoting a dynamic discussion about the draft guidelines to complement the comments currently being submitted to the agencies by the public. The goal of the merger guidelines update is to better reflect how the agencies determine a merger’s effect on competition in the modern economy and evaluate proposed mergers under the law.

The first workshop will take place on September 5 from Noon to 3:15 pm Central and will be livestreamed on the FTC’s website. More information, including a tentative agenda for the workshop, is available on the FTC's webpage for the event.

The virtual workshop will feature two panel discussions with academics, economists, practitioners, and former enforcers regarding questions and issues on which public comment will be most useful. Information about forthcoming workshops will be announced at a later date. The FTC and DOJ continue to encourage comments from the public on the draft guidelines, which may be submitted online through September 18, 2023.

The OCC, Federal Reserve System Board, and the FDIC issued a joint notice of proposed rulemaking that would require certain large depository institution holding companies, U.S. intermediate holding companies of large banking organizations (LBO), and certain insured depository institutions (IDI) to issue and maintain an outstanding minimum amount of long-term debt (LTD). The LTD requirement would improve the resolvability of these LBOs and IDIs in case of failure, reduce costs to the Deposit Insurance Fund, and mitigate contagion and financial stability risks by reducing the risk of loss to uninsured depositors.

The agencies encourage stakeholders to review the proposed rule and provide comments before the close of the comment period on November 30, 2023. The proposed rule would not apply to community banks.

|1 Fact Sheet1 |1 More: Fed and FDIC propose enhanced resolution planning guidance

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu issued statements at the FDIC Board Meeting in support of proposed rulemakings to improve financial stability and the resolvability of large banks.

In his statements, Hsu discussed his support for proposed rules to establish a long-term debt requirement for large banks with $100 billion or more in assets and to revise the insured depository institution resolution plan rule. Hsu noted the proposed rulemakings’ relevance to improving separability and ensuring federal regulators have actionable options when dealing with failed bank sales. He further offered his support to a proposal to enhance Board engagement around midsize and large failed bank sales.

His comments are consistent with his remarks in April 2022 on the financial stability risks posed by large banks.

1 • 1Statement In Support of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend the Insured

1 • 1Depository Institution Resolution Plan Rule

1 • 1Statement In Support of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Establish a Long-Term

1 • 1Debt Requirement

1 • 1Statement on Proposals Related to Board Approval of Midsize and Large Failed Bank

1 • 1Sales

The Federal Reserve is hosting a town hall meeting tomorrow on the FedNow Service. Registration is now closed, but the session will be recorded and made publicly available on FedNowExplorer.org soon.

The 90-minute webinar will feature panel discussions with financial institutions that are live on FedNow. It will also cover launch experiences, use cases, and what’s next for FedNow.

The CFPB reiterated its plan to propose new rules to prevent the misuse and abuse of consumer information collected by credit reporting companies and other data brokers.

The CFPB cited Director Rohit Chopra’s recent remarks during a White House roundtable that the bureau will issue the proposed rules under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to address business practices used by companies that assemble and monetize data. The bureau also offers a fact sheet on its plans.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released its schedule of Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) evaluations to be conducted in the fourth quarter of 2023 and first quarter of 2024.

The OCC encourages public comment on the national banks and federal savings associations scheduled to be evaluated under the CRA. Public comments should be submitted to the banks themselves or to the appropriate OCC supervisory office before the month in which the evaluation is scheduled. The OCC will consider all public comments received before the close of the CRA evaluation.

The Treasury Department and IRS released proposed regulations on the sale and exchange of digital assets by brokers. The proposed regulations, which are open for public comment and feedback until October 30, 2023, are designed to crack down on tax evasion related to digital assets and would require brokers of digital assets to report certain sales and exchanges. Treasury said it plans to hold a public hearing on the proposal on Nov. 7 and possibly Nov. 8.

The proposed regulations would:

1 • 1Require brokers of digital assets to report certain sales and exchanges.

1 • 1Subject digital asset brokers to the same information-reporting rules as brokers for

1 • 1securities and other financial instruments.

1 • 1Apply to operators of some platforms known as decentralized exchanges, to digital-asset

1 • 1hosted wallet providers if they facilitate the purchase or sale of digital assets, and to

1 • 1individuals who use digital assets to purchase real estate.

Under the proposed rules, the first year that brokers would be required to report any information on sales and exchanges of digital assets is in 2026, for sales and exchanges in 2025.