Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. (“Jay”) Powell will give lawmakers an update on the central bank’s monetary policy activity during a Senate Banking Committee hearing next Wednesday, one day after giving similar testimony for the House Financial Services Committee.
The Feb. 12 Senate Banking hearing, slated to begin at 10 a.m. ET, will complete Powell’s first round of semiannual reporting to Congress on monetary policy this year.
During similar testimony last July, Powell was asked about prospects for easing big banks’ capital requirements (it’s not time for that yet, he indicated in that hearing) and was praised by committee Republicans for his leadership of the Fed’s monetary policy and commitment to carrying out that policy independent of political influence.
Those issues could come up again, along with the status of the Fed’s faster-payments plan (comments closed in November), banking regulators’ recent proposal on “covered funds” under the Volcker rule, and, potentially, the Fed’s thinking on the Community Reinvestment Act rule revisions proposed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.