<![CDATA[Capitol Account]]>

<![CDATA[Capitol Account]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!awnX!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8f1f51b5-ec4c-4c90-a1ae-12740e0d6f9f_256x256.pngCapitol Accounthttps://www.capitolaccountdc.comSubstackTue, 28 Jul 2026 21:47:30 GMT<![CDATA[Fed's 'Skinny' Payment Account Plan Leaves Nobody Happy]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/feds-skinny-payment-account-planhttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/feds-skinny-payment-account-planMon, 27 Jul 2026 23:41:30 GMTWhen the Fed proposed this spring to create a new path for financial technology firms to access the U.S. payments system, it tried to stake out a middle ground. As with many compromises, however, it turns out that nobody is happy.

The dissatisfaction with the idea of “skinny” master accounts was made clear in comment letters that have been arriving over …

]]><![CDATA[Former FTC Commissioner Slaughter on Suing the President and the Fallout From Her Case]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/former-ftc-commissioner-slaughterhttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/former-ftc-commissioner-slaughterFri, 24 Jul 2026 23:38:49 GMTSponsored by LegAide AI, which turns any live-streamed hearing, markup or event into a fast, accurate transcript and a memo written in your team’s voice.

Friday Q and A: The fatal blow that the Supreme Court dealt to independent agencies in its Trump v. Slaughter decision was widely predicted. Yet many in Washington are just starting to think through the…

]]><![CDATA[`I'm Not Russell Vought': CFPB Nominee Makes His Case to Senators ]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/im-not-russell-vought-cfpb-nomineehttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/im-not-russell-vought-cfpb-nomineeThu, 23 Jul 2026 23:45:48 GMTSponsored by LegAide AI, which turns any live-streamed hearing, markup or event into a fast, accurate transcript and a memo written in your team’s voice.

Brian Johnson had an uncomfortable wait before his confirmation hearing this morning, as members of the Senate Banking Committee tussled in an unusual closed session about issues with another nominee’s …

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]]><![CDATA[Gould Takes Aim at Fed's 'Byzantine' Master Accounts Policy]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/gould-takes-aim-at-feds-byzantinehttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/gould-takes-aim-at-feds-byzantineWed, 22 Jul 2026 23:34:29 GMTSponsored by LegAide AI, which turns any live-streamed hearing, markup or event into a fast, accurate transcript and a memo written in your team’s voice.

The Fed has spent years guarding its power to grant direct access to the U.S. payments system, largely reserving so-called master accounts only for traditional lenders. But a series of lawsuits from spu…

]]><![CDATA[House Lawmakers Hit Fincen Chief With a Bipartisan List of Complaints]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/house-lawmakers-hit-fincen-chiefhttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/house-lawmakers-hit-fincen-chiefTue, 21 Jul 2026 23:39:06 GMTSponsored by LegAide AI, which turns any live-streamed hearing, markup or event into a fast, accurate transcript and a memo written in your team’s voice.

Fincen is a relatively small agency, but don’t tell that to members of the House Financial Services Committee. Lawmakers arrived at today’s oversight hearing with a long list of grievances to air with A…

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]]><![CDATA[CFPB Nominee Will Keep Capital One Bonus Payments]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/cfpb-nominee-will-keep-capital-onehttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/cfpb-nominee-will-keep-capital-oneMon, 20 Jul 2026 23:42:03 GMTSponsored by LegAide AI, which turns any live-streamed hearing, markup or event into a fast, accurate transcript and a memo written in your team’s voice.

CFPB Director Nominee Brian Johnson’s trip through the revolving door was always likely to draw scrutiny from Democrats and liberal critics. Now, the Capital One executive’s public ethics agreement is g…

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]]><![CDATA['This Is the Right Way to Trade Sports': Talking Prediction Markets With the CEO of ProphetX]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/this-is-the-right-way-to-trade-sportshttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/this-is-the-right-way-to-trade-sportsFri, 17 Jul 2026 23:23:58 GMTFriday Q and A: To date, the event contracts business has been dominated by Kalshi and Polymarket. But CFTC Chairman Mike Selig’s embrace of the industry is paving the way for a flurry of competitors seeking the agency’s approval to jump into the multibillion-dollar nationwide market. This week, we sat down with the chief executive of one of the newest …

]]><![CDATA[SEC Proposes Sweeping E-Delivery Rule]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/sec-proposes-sweeping-e-deliveryhttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/sec-proposes-sweeping-e-deliveryThu, 16 Jul 2026 23:37:32 GMTThe fight over electronic delivery of investor documents has dogged the SEC for years. Today, Chairman Paul Atkins took a big step to end the debate for good, proposing a rule that would make digital communications the default method.

The effort would do away with decades-old guidance that generally requires customers to proactively opt in for e-delivery…

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]]><![CDATA['Cruel and Callous': Vought Gets an Earful from House Democrats]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/cruel-and-callous-vought-gets-anhttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/cruel-and-callous-vought-gets-anWed, 15 Jul 2026 23:29:36 GMTDuring his 17 months at the helm of the CFPB, Russell Vought largely operated in the shadows, eschewing public appearances as he worked to dismantle the agency. Today, the acting director finally sat for questions in front of the House Financial Services Committee. He was met with pent-up fury.

The OMB chief sat stoically at the witness table as Democrat…

]]><![CDATA[Warsh Charms Lawmakers, Pledges to 'Keep Politics Out of the Fed']]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/warsh-charms-lawmakers-pledges-tohttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/warsh-charms-lawmakers-pledges-toTue, 14 Jul 2026 23:26:18 GMTKevin Warsh’s first congressional testimony as Fed chairman turned out to be a friendly and low-key affair, with lawmakers on both sides of the House Financial Services Committee largely steering away from political attacks. Credit the central banker’s trademark charm, which he ably deployed against potential Democratic antagonists. “I like the way you …

]]><![CDATA[Nominee Brian Johnson Sees Some 'Good' in the CFPB]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/nominee-brian-johnson-sees-some-goodhttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/nominee-brian-johnson-sees-some-goodMon, 13 Jul 2026 23:34:33 GMTRussell Vought’s stewardship of the CFPB has been chaotic, to say the least. But Brian Johnson, the White House’s nominee to permanently lead the bureau, seems primed to chart a different path – at least if his paper trail is any indication.

A former top official at the agency during Donald Trump’s first term, Johnson has written and spoken for years abo…

]]><![CDATA[Steering TD Bank's Regulatory 'Transformation']]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/steering-td-banks-regulatory-transformationhttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/steering-td-banks-regulatory-transformationFri, 10 Jul 2026 23:29:18 GMTFriday Q and A: TD Bank has faced severe regulatory headwinds over the last two years, fallout from a money laundering scandal that resulted in a rare guilty plea to criminal charges. The 2024 settlement, which aired embarrassing details about employees, also included a record $3.1 billion fine and an OCC-imposed cap on growth.

Now on a mission to get ba…

]]><![CDATA[SEC Plan to End Mandatory Quarterly Reporting Provokes Widespread Opposition ]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/sec-plan-to-end-mandatory-quarterlyhttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/sec-plan-to-end-mandatory-quarterlyThu, 09 Jul 2026 23:30:20 GMTThe SEC is still processing a record-breaking flood of feedback on its proposal to eliminate mandatory quarterly financial reporting. But the overwhelming consensus is already unmistakable: it’s a bad idea.

Leading the charge, by one assessment, were more than 10,000 retail traders who weighed in against the plan. The grassroots opposition was buttressed…

]]><![CDATA['Unqualified and Untrustworthy': Knives Come Out Over Potential Democratic SEC Nominee]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/unqualified-and-untrustworthy-kniveshttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/unqualified-and-untrustworthy-knivesWed, 08 Jul 2026 23:36:20 GMTKudos to Dennis Kelleher for enlivening the summer doldrums by igniting a battle royal over a potential SEC nomination. The row, which the Better Markets president kicked off yesterday with a jeremiad about the “unqualified and untrustworthy” Christy Goldsmith Romero, has captivated much of the financial regulatory world. And the spectacle has only esca…

]]><![CDATA[Treasury's McKernan to Step Down, Sources Say]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/treasurys-mckernan-to-step-down-sourceshttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/treasurys-mckernan-to-step-down-sourcesTue, 07 Jul 2026 23:32:43 GMTJonathan McKernan, a top Treasury Department official who has been a central player in the Trump administration’s push to ease regulation on Wall Street, is expected to step down next week, according to sources. His exit comes only nine months after being confirmed as under secretary for domestic finance – and adds to the thinning ranks of Secretary Sco…

]]><![CDATA[Bowman's External Review of SVB Collapse Roils Fed]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/bowmans-external-review-of-svb-collapsehttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/bowmans-external-review-of-svb-collapseMon, 06 Jul 2026 23:48:57 GMTWhen Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman launched her long-sought independent review of Silicon Valley Bank’s failure earlier this year, the Fed insisted the effort was not about “assigning blame.” But the assurance has provided scant comfort inside the building.

Instead, the investigation has roiled officials up to the highest levels, who sources…

]]><![CDATA[Outside Review Calls for Sweeping Changes to Finra Enforcement ]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/outside-review-calls-for-sweepinghttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/outside-review-calls-for-sweepingWed, 01 Jul 2026 23:36:25 GMT[Note to Readers: Capitol Account will be off Thursday and Friday ahead of the 4th of July holiday.]

A long-awaited outside review of Finra’s enforcement program is calling for substantial changes to how the self-regulator polices and disciplines brokers. The report, posted online without fanfare yesterday, contains a number of ideas likely to be welcome…

]]><![CDATA[Warning of 'Socialist Experiments,' Atkins Takes Aim at New York's Progressive Leaders]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/warning-of-socialist-experimentshttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/warning-of-socialist-experimentsTue, 30 Jun 2026 23:20:45 GMTWith the nation’s 250th birthday right around the corner, a festive Paul Atkins traveled to New York today to cast his deregulatory efforts as carrying out America’s founding ideals. While the speech was light on news, it revealed a lot about the chairman’s philosophy – and his politics. He even took some thinly veiled shots at the city’s mayor and his …

]]><![CDATA[Supreme Court Deals Fatal Blow to Independent Regulators but Spares the Fed]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/supreme-court-deals-fatal-blow-tohttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/supreme-court-deals-fatal-blow-toMon, 29 Jun 2026 23:33:51 GMTThe idea of “independent” agencies has been on life support since Donald Trump retook the White House. Today, the Supreme Court pulled the plug, ruling that commissioners on multi-member boards can be fired for any reason – a landmark decision that hands the president a potent weapon in his efforts to exert control over the federal bureaucracy. But in a…

]]><![CDATA[Will the SEC Succeed in Making IPOs Great Again? A Yale Law Professor Isn't So Sure]]>https://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/will-the-sec-succeed-in-making-iposhttps://www.capitolaccountdc.com/p/will-the-sec-succeed-in-making-iposFri, 26 Jun 2026 23:27:56 GMTFriday Q and A: Barely a week goes by without Paul Atkins trumpeting his plans to “make IPOs great again.” To achieve that goal, the SEC chairman has been rolling out rule proposals to ease disclosure requirements, encouraging companies to limit securities class actions and plotting to end the agency’s review of shareholder resolutions.

We sat down this …

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