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Steven Harras

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Utah Republican Mitt Romney is one of nine senators from both parties who say industrial loan companies can help local economies in ways that traditional financial institutions can't.

Senators urge FDIC to give fair consideration to industrial banks

By Steven Harras
Posted November 1, 2022 at 7:00am
House Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said she was heartened that federal agencies are working together to modernize implementation of the Community Redevelopment Act.

Political divide snags the digital update to anti-redlining law

By Steven Harras
Posted September 20, 2022 at 6:30am
“Director Chopra continues to block consumers’ access to innovative financial products and services," says Rep. Patrick T. McHenry.

Fintechs question CFPB’s faith in innovation over ‘safe harbors’

By Steven Harras
Posted July 19, 2022 at 6:00am
Endorsements by celebrities are moving fintech into popular culture, but regulators are moving carefully to avoid a dangerous misstep.

Stars align for fintech, but regulators are wary of dangerous risks

By Steven Harras
Posted April 19, 2022 at 7:00am
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell testifies during a House Financial Services hearing earlier this month. He said Monday that the invasion of Ukraine will add more pressure to prices.

Powell says Fed ‘widely underestimated’ rise in inflation

By Steven Harras
Posted March 21, 2022 at 5:35pm
Sarah Bloom Raskin, nominee to be vice chairman for supervision and a member of the Fed, hasn't yet received a vote in the Senate Banking Committee because no Republicans attended the meeting.

Manchin says he won’t support Raskin confirmation to Fed

By Steven Harras
Posted March 14, 2022 at 4:04pm
The popularity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is raising a new issue in estate planning: making sure heirs have the passcodes that will give them access.

Estate planners want to keep the crypt out of cryptocurrency

By Steven Harras
Posted February 22, 2022 at 7:00am
Penny Lee, CEO of the Financial Technology Association, says buy now, pay later helps small and medium merchants compete against large online marketplaces.

Consumers turn to ‘buy now, pay later,’ stoking worry about repayment ability

By Steven Harras
Posted October 26, 2021 at 7:00am
Penny Lee, CEO of the Financial Technology Association, has long worked for key Democrats.

Political veteran Lee wants fintech group to educate lawmakers

By Steven Harras
Posted September 14, 2021 at 7:00am
Barefoot, CEO of the Alliance for Innovative Regulation, sees 'very disturbing potential' in poorly designed AI.

As banks push AI, worry about worsening inequality follows

By Steven Harras
Posted August 3, 2021 at 7:00am
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit tossed out a New York state financial regulator’s lawsuit challenging a federal decision to grant special types of national bank charters to fintech firms.

State challenges to fintech charters a losing battle so far

By Steven Harras
Posted June 29, 2021 at 7:30am
Jo Ann Barefoot, CEO of the Alliance for Innovative Regulation, says the OCC decision on Paxos shows that regulators are recognizing the risk of falling behind changing technology.

Federal charter for Paxos edges fintech into banking system

By Steven Harras
Posted May 18, 2021 at 7:00am
Migrants to the U.S. often lack access to credit histories that ease access to the financial system. Fintech advocates say they have a solution.

Fintech pitched as credit lifeline for newly arrived immigrants

By Steven Harras
Posted March 9, 2021 at 7:00am
Congress should give the CFPB authority to license some fintech banks, or clarify that the OCC has that authority, a CFPB panel advised.

Federal agencies, states compete to be fintech regulator

By Steven Harras
Posted January 19, 2021 at 5:00am
DOJ asked the public to directly answer whether its rules give proper weight to online deposits.

Fintech boom prompts Justice to revisit bank merger guidance

By Steven Harras
Posted October 13, 2020 at 7:00am
A man wearing a protective mask sits on top of the Charging Bull sculpture near Wall Street in New York on April 19, 2020.

New York bolsters fintech leadership role amid pandemic

By Steven Harras
Posted July 21, 2020 at 7:01am
The entrance to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in Washington, D.C.

Fintechs try old bank charters as ‘everything old is new again’

By Steven Harras
Posted June 16, 2020 at 8:03am
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., leaves a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus at the Capitol on Feb. 11, 2020.

From robo-advisers to cashless society, fintech vexes Congress

By Steven Harras and Peter Feltman
Posted May 5, 2020 at 6:59am
Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., proposed bill to eliminate signature requirement on transactions.

COVID-19 concerns prompt new interest in cashless payments

By Steven Harras
Posted April 28, 2020 at 6:05am
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has dusted off the playbook from the last financial crisis.

Treasury, Fed take new actions to bolster lending during pandemic

By Steven Harras
Posted March 17, 2020 at 3:54pm
Jo Ann Barefoot, CEO of the Alliance for Innovative Regulation, is photographed on March 6, 2020.

Former official seeks to root out fintech’s legal impediments

By Steven Harras
Posted March 10, 2020 at 7:01am
Barr called it dangerous to police the allocation of credit. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

JPMorgan to restrict financing for coal, Arctic oil and gas

By Steven Harras
Posted February 25, 2020 at 5:08pm
Inconsistent classifications and ill-formed definitions of bitcoin and other digital assets are being left to the judiciary to sort out. (AFP via Getty Images)

Courts, without law for guidance, setting value of cryptoassets

By Steven Harras
Posted January 28, 2020 at 7:01am
Kelly Thompson Cochran, deputy director of FinRegLab, left, and Melissa Koide, CEO of FinRegLab. The startup research group is credited with drawing attention to fintech's ability to improve Americans' lives. (Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call)

Duo seeks to bridge information divide in fintech industry

By Steven Harras
Posted October 22, 2019 at 6:30am
The Federal Reserve expects to launch a real-time payment service in four years. Fintech experts are already questioning how it will handle fraud. (Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Fed’s proposal for faster payments raises question of fraud

By Steven Harras
Posted September 17, 2019 at 7:30am
New York is among the latest to consider legislation calling for unclaimed cryptocurrency to be transferred to the state after the digital assets have been abandoned. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

States, eyeing money in abandoned bitcoin, rewrite laws

By Steven Harras
Posted July 16, 2019 at 6:30am
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 24: A visual representation of the digital Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin on October 24, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Bitcoin mining energy costs raise concern, prompt little action

By Steven Harras
Posted June 25, 2019 at 7:30am
A new report says regulators of the world’s leading economies need to watch how they oversee cryptoassets and be wary of gaps that could undermine investor protections and anti-money laundering efforts. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images file photo)

Global regulators divide on fintech impact on financial system

By Steven Harras
Posted June 11, 2019 at 6:30am
A man purchases bitcoin from a bitcoin ATM in Boston in 2014. The use of cryptocurrencies to make payments in the U.S. is still “quite rare relative to cash and traditional systems,” a new CRS report says. (Darren McCollester/Getty Images file photo)

Report to Congress ponders a future of cryptocurrency over cash

By Steven Harras
Posted May 29, 2019 at 5:00am
New York state regulators in April denied applications by Bittrex for licenses to run a virtual currency business and to engage in money transmission activity. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images file photo)

New York regulator’s conflict with fintech firm spills into view

By Steven Harras
Posted May 7, 2019 at 5:00am
Want to keep up with the future investors of America? Get out your calculators. (Shutterstock)

Online lenders put small banks in a bind

By Steven Harras
Posted April 2, 2019 at 5:00am
A bank industry group accuses financial technology firms like payment processor Square Inc. of trying to exploit a banking law loophole. (Courtesy Shutterstock)

Banks seek Congress’ help to block fintech path to ‘industrial’ charters

By Steven Harras
Posted March 20, 2019 at 5:01am
New York’s Letitia James led 22 other Democratic state attorneys general in a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that slammed the agency for its plans to allow banks and technology firms to develop untested fintech products and services without fear of reprisals from regulators. (Gary Gershoff/Getty Images for Housing Works, Inc., file photo )

States, consumer groups blast CFPB’s fintech protections

By Steven Harras
Posted February 21, 2019 at 5:02am
Matt Swinehart, a senior counsel at the Treasury Department, says a massive “regulatory rethink” for financial technology won’t be required. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Treasury official doubts fintech needs payment system overhaul

By Steven Harras
Posted February 19, 2019 at 11:00am
Kathy Kraninger, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, submitted a legislative proposal to “clarify” the bureau’s authority to supervise compliance with a military lending law. (Alex Wong/Getty Images file photo)

CFPB asks Congress for authority to sniff out predatory military lenders

By Steven Harras
Posted January 18, 2019 at 11:13am
Melvin Watt (Chris Maddaloni/CQ-Roll Call File Photo)

Regulator Warns Capital Buffers Shrinking at Fannie, Freddie

By Steven Harras
Posted October 4, 2017 at 1:00pm
Arizona Sen. John McCain and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren say big banks pose a threat to the economy. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Senators See Trump Support Giving Glass-Steagall Bill a Chance

By Steven Harras
Posted April 14, 2017 at 5:03am

OCC Chief Denies Increased Federal Regulation Has Hurt Banks

By Steven Harras
Posted September 20, 2016 at 10:44am

Wider Criminal Background Checks for Bank Executives Unveiled by CSBS

By Steven Harras
Posted September 15, 2016 at 10:42am