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First 100 Days: Regulatory Update

April 15, 2025

President Donald Trump issued a Presidential Memo (Directing the Repeal of Unlawful Regulations) on April 9, allowing agency heads to “finalize rules without notice and comment, where doing so is consistent with the ‘good cause’ exception in the Administrative Procedure Act.” 

• The memo seems to assume that the 2024 Loper Bright ruling applies retroactively, although as reported in previous CREFC Policy and Capital Markets Briefings, the Supreme Court explicitly stated that the decision was forward-looking.
• Loper Bright overturned what had been known as the “Chevron Doctrine,” which directed courts to defer to agency interpretations of ambiguous federal laws and regulations.

What they're saying: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a speech to the American Bankers Association on the same day as the issuance of the the memo, said that the Treasury now “intends to play a greater role in bank regulation” and ensure “that the financial services regulators fulfill their statutory mandates consistent with [Trump’s] priorities.”

Bessent also stressed the need to modernize the bank capital regime. Arguing that the Biden-era proposed Basel Endgame was not the right starting point for this modernization effort, Bessent stated:

We should not outsource decision making for the United States to international bodies. Instead, we should conduct our own analysis from the ground up to determine a regulatory framework that is in the interests of the United States. To the extent that the Endgame standards can provide inspiration, we could borrow selectively from them. But this should only be done to the extent that we can independently validate the underlying rationale and then make that rationale available for public comment.

Confirmation Process for Senior Regulators Continues

• Former Securities and Exchange Commissioner (SEC) Paul Atkins was confirmed as the agency’s new Chair on April 9. 
• According to Politico, Atkins is considered the “intellectual godfather of Republican market regulation” and will seek to usher in a “sweeping age of deregulation.” He is expected to make it easier for companies to go public in the U.S., pull back on enforcement, and develop new rules for digital assets.
• Yes, but: The SEC has lost a lot of staff, including hundreds of whom took a $50,000 offer to voluntarily leave the agency. A former SEC official told Politico:

If he’s going to accomplish what he wants, whether it’s regulation or deregulation, he’s gonna need expert, experienced staff. And the agency is actively suffering from the largest loss of talent in its history. It won’t be easy.

• Please see recent CREFC Policy and Capital Markets Briefings for more color on Atkins.

On April 10, the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing to consider Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman’s nomination to serve as Vice Chair for Supervision. Bowman highlighted her commitment to regulatory pragmatism, advocating for tailored regulations, enhanced regulatory transparency, and innovation in the banking system.

• Democrats questioned Bowman about President Trump’s tariff policies and the Fed’s independence, raising concerns about the Fed’s ability to counter potential risks to financial stability. 
• Republicans focused their questions on easing regulatory burdens and the Fed’s shortcomings leading up to the March 2023 bank failures.

Go deeper: Bowman committed to maintaining the Fed’s independence, but declined to answer how she would respond if the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) required the Fed to submit its rules for White House review prior to publication. 

• She stated that such a request would not necessarily infringe on the Fed’s independence and emphasized her support of providing a cost-benefit analysis to justify the agency’s rulemakings. 

What about Basel: Bowman said that the Fed needs to “take a fresh look” at the latest Basel agreement to see what’s appropriate for U.S. banks and their ability to be privy to a level playing field internationally.

• Bowman’s remarks echoed similar themes shared by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier in the week. 

CREFC will continue to update its membership on key regulatory developments, both in the first 100 days and beyond. Please see here for our Regulatory Tracker.
Please contact Sairah Burki (sburki@crefc.org) with any questions.

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