Print ArticleAugust 2025
DC Updates
DC Updates highlights recent press releases on actions of the Federal Reserve Board as well as speeches and congressional testimonies of Board members that may be of interest to community bankers. All the Federal Reserve Board’s rulemakings, press releases, testimonies, speeches, and policy statements can be found on the Board's website. The updates listed below reflect actions, speeches, and testimonies from April 18, 2025, to June 24, 2025.
Public Releases
Matters Related to Safety and Soundness Supervision and Consumer Affairs
Federal Reserve Board Announces That Reputational Risk Will No Longer Be a Component of Examination Programs in Its Supervision of Banks (June 23, 2025)
The Federal Reserve will no longer include reputational risk as a component of examination programs in its supervision of banks. The Board is in the process of reviewing and removing references to reputation and reputational risk from its supervisory materials, including examination manuals, and, where appropriate, replacing those references with more specific discussions of financial risk. The attachment to Supervision and Regulation (SR) letter 95-51, “Rating the Adequacy of Risk Management Processes and Internal Controls at State Member Banks and Bank Holding Companies,” titled, “Federal Reserve Guidelines for Rating Risk Management at State Member Banks and Bank Holding Companies,” has been revised to remove references to reputational risk. SR letter 95-51 and the relevant attachment are available at www.federalreserve.gov/supervisionreg/srletters/SR9551.htm.
Federal Bank Regulatory Agencies Seek Comment to Address Payments and Check Fraud (June 16, 2025)
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively referred to as the “federal bank regulatory agencies”) have announced a request for comment on potential actions to help consumers, businesses, and financial institutions mitigate the risk of payments fraud, with a particular focus on check fraud. In addition to seeking public input, the federal bank regulatory agencies will also continue looking for additional opportunities to effectively collaborate across other state and federal agencies to help mitigate payments fraud. The comment period ends September 18, 2025.
The Federal Reserve Board has withdrawn its guidance for banks related to their crypto-asset and dollar token activities and related changes to its expectations for these activities. The Board has rescinded SR letter 22-06/Consumer Affairs (CA) letter 22-06, “Engagement in Crypto-Asset-Related Activities by Federal Reserve–Supervised Banking Organizations,” and, as a result, the Board will no longer expect banks to provide notification and will instead monitor banks’ crypto-asset activities through the normal supervisory process. The Board also rescinded SR letter 23-08/CA letter 23-05, “Supervisory Nonobjection Process for State Member Banks Seeking to Engage in Certain Activities Involving Dollar Tokens.” In addition, the federal bank regulatory agencies have withdrawn two jointly issued statements from 2023 regarding banks’ crypto-asset activities and exposures.
Other Federal Reserve Board Announcements
Michelle W. Bowman Sworn in as Vice Chair for Supervision of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (June 9, 2025)
Michelle W. Bowman took the oath of office as Vice Chair for Supervision of the Federal Reserve Board on June 9, 2025. Vice Chair for Supervision Bowman was nominated for the position by President Trump on March 24, 2025, and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 4, 2025. Her term as Vice Chair for Supervision ends on June 9, 2029.
Federal Reserve Board Begins 2025 Census of Finance Companies and Other Lenders (June 6, 2025)
The Federal Reserve has begun its 2025 census on the assets and liabilities of finance companies. This regular census, surveyed at roughly five-year intervals, produces important data on the types and volumes of financing provided by nonbank financial institutions in the United States.
Federal Reserve Board Issues Its Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2024 Report (May 28, 2025)
The Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2024 report examines the financial lives of U.S. adults and their families. Results from the 2024 survey indicate that people’s financial well-being was similar to the previous two years and that inflation and prices continued to be their top financial concerns.
Agencies Issue Host State Loan-to-Deposit Ratios (May 12, 2025)
The federal bank regulatory agencies jointly issued updated host state loan-to-deposit ratios, replacing the ratios issued in May 2024. These updates are issued annually, as required by law.
Testimony
Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress, testimony of Chair Jerome H. Powell before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, Washington, DC, on June 24, 2025.
Speeches
Speeches Related to Supervision and Regulation
Unintended Policy Shifts and Unexpected Consequences, speech given by Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle W. Bowman at the “Assessing the Effectiveness of Monetary Policy During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic” research conference, sponsored by the International Journal of Central Banking and the Czech National Bank, Prague, Czech Republic, on June 23, 2025.
Taking a Fresh Look at Supervision and Regulation, speech given by Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle W. Bowman at the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy, Washington, DC, on June 6, 2025.
Liquidity Facilities: Purposes and Functions, speech given by Vice Chair Philip N. Jefferson at the 2025 Financial Markets Conference: "Financial Intermediation in Transition: How Will Policy Adapt?” sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Fernandina Beach, FL, on May 19, 2025.
Speeches Related to the U.S. Economy and Monetary Policy
The Economic Outlook and Appropriate Monetary Policy, speech given by Governor Adriana D. Kugler at the Economic Club of New York, New York, on June 5, 2025.
Economic Outlook, speech given by Governor Lisa D. Cook at the Council on Foreign Relations, New York, on June 3, 2025.
Opening Remarks, speech given by Chair Jerome H. Powell at the Division of International Finance 75th Anniversary Conference, Federal Reserve Board, Washington, DC, on June 2, 2025.
The Effects of Tariffs on the Three I’s: Inflation, Inflation Persistence, and Inflation Expectations, speech given by Governor Christopher J. Waller at “Structural Shifts and Monetary Policy,” 2025 Bank of Korea International Conference, Bank of Korea, Seoul, South Korea, on June 1, 2025.
A View on Financial Stability, speech given by Governor Lisa D. Cook at the Seventh Annual Women in Macro Conference, cosponsored by New York University’s Graduate School of Arts & Science, New York University’s Stern School of Business, and the University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Institute for Economics, New York, on May 23, 2025.
Opening Remarks, speech given by Chair Jerome H. Powell at the Second Thomas Laubach Research Conference, hosted by the Federal Reserve Board, Washington, DC, on May 15, 2025.
Opening Remarks, speech given by Governor Michael S. Barr (via prerecorded video) at the 2025 Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Small Business Credit Symposium, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York, on May 15, 2025.
Economic Outlook, speech given by Vice Chair Philip N. Jefferson at the Annual Conference of Second District Directors and Advisors, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York, on May 14, 2025.
Economic Outlook, speech given by Governor Adriana D. Kugler at the International Economic Symposium, cohosted by the National Association for Business Economics and the Central Bank of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland, on May 12, 2025.
Artificial Intelligence and the Labor Market: A Scenario-Based Approach, speech given by Governor Michael S. Barr at the Reykjavík Economic Conference 2025, Central Bank of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland, on May 9, 2025.
Best Wishes to CBC Advisory Board Member and Lead Article Reviewer
Ginny (Virginia) Gibbs, lead financial institution and policy analyst, Supervision Group, Division of Supervision and Regulation, Board of Governors, who has contributed to Community Banking Connections (CBC) since its inception and has been one of its lead article reviewers, is retiring after 35 years. In addition to serving on the CBC advisory board for more than a decade, Ginny has also written articles for the publication. In 2012, she wrote “Uncovering the Mystery of an Appraisal.” Ginny’s most significant contributions to CBC have been her careful article reviews and her highly constructive feedback based on her wealth of knowledge of both supervision and the Federal Reserve. The CBC team will greatly miss her dedication and viewpoints. We thank Ginny for her unfaltering service and commitment and wish her the best.