Finance

Student Loan Defaults Surge Past 21% as Repayment Plans Shift

The federal student loan default rate reached 21.3% in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, following a sharp jump the report calls a "default cliff" in the...

Lobbying

Societe Generale Lobbies via GRV Strategies

Societe Generale de Banque au Liban SAL (SGBL) filed a 2026 third-quarter lobbying report disclosing work on International Monetary Fund (IMF) and banking...

Lobbying

American Bankers Association Lobbies On New Bank Formation Act

The American Bankers Association (ABA) is lobbying on H.R. 478, the Promoting New Bank Formation Act, a bill that would give newly chartered depository...

Lobbying Activity

Ripple Lobbies on Crypto Regulation as Senate Blocks CLARITY Vote

Ripple Labs Inc. disclosed lobbying on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (CLARITY Act), legislation that would establish a federal regulatory...

Banking and Finance

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority's Debt Restructuring Stalls

The roughly $9 billion debt restructuring program for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) remains unresolved more than nine years after...

Finance

IRS Free File Reaches Only 3% of Eligible Taxpayers

The IRS Free File Program (FFP) reaches only about 3% of eligible taxpayers annually, even as e-filing has become nearly universal, according to a new...

Government Operations

Farm Credit Administration Lacks Quorum With Two Seats Vacant

The Farm Credit Administration's three-member board has only one sitting member, serving on an expired term, and two vacant seats, leaving the regulator of...

Banking and Finance

SEC Moves to Eliminate the Shareholder Proposal Rule

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed rescinding the shareholder proposal rule, according to a new Congressional Research Service (CRS)...

Lobbying Activity

Binance.US Registers Cabranes to Lobby on Finance Issues

Binance.US filed a new client lobbying registration with Cabranes, Alejo R.S. on Oct. 9, covering Financial Institutions/Investments/Securities (FIN),...

Follow the Money

Health Savings Accounts Contributions Increasingly Tied to Employers

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has found that health savings accounts (HSA) are mostly funded by employer contributions even though individuals...

Legislation

Banks and Crypto: Congress Weighs Durable Rules Over Shifting Regs

Federal banking regulators have cycled through permitting, restricting, and again permitting crypto activities as presidential administrations have changed...

hearings

Senate Panel Will Examine Four Key Finance Nominations

Four nominees spanning housing finance, Treasury investment policy, and export credit are set to face questions from the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban...

Finance

Private Equity's Growing Role in U.S. Insurance Industry

The rapid growth of private equity (PE) involvement in the U.S. insurance industry and the financial stability risks it may pose to policyholders,...

Banking and Finance

Tax Court Upholds Income Tax on Cryptocurrency Rewards

The tax code treats virtual currency as property, not currency, triggering income recognition events that many taxpayers never anticipated, according to a...

Banking, Finance, and Domestic Commerce

Unilever Doubles Lobbying Spend; Hopes of Merger

Unilever U.S. Inc. filed a First Quarter 2026 lobbying disclosure reporting $540,000 in spending—more than the entire 2025 annual total of $490,000. The...

Congress

Committee Debates Bank Rules' Impact on Growth

Bank capital rules, long debated in regulatory circles, are moving to Capitol Hill. The House Financial Services Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on...

Legislation

Committee Votes to Reshape American Financial Regulation

Four financial sector bills are headed to a markup vote before the House Financial Services Committee on April 21, 2026 — a move that would roll back small...