Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grants for existing and future projects that reduce damage from flooding, tornadoes, and other weather-related events have been cancelled.

Climate disasters cause billions of dollars in damage to homes, businesses, and communities each year. Banks are vulnerable to climate risk because of the loans they extend to communities, secured by real estate or other assets. BRIC grants made homes and other structures more resilient to climate disasters. Without these grants, banks, families, and entire communities are more vulnerable to financial losses from inevitable future climate disasters.

New CFPB leadership signals its intent to weaken important fair lending rule that requires small business lenders to provide demographic data.

The SEC asked for a two-month pause in the case about Gemini’s Earn product. The SEC has surrendered to the crypto industry.

The OCC’s decision to ignore well-known and very serious climate-related financial risk at the largest Wall Street banks is a baseless, dangerous and politically-motivated decision. Banks face enormous risks from climate, but are woefully unprepared to even evaluate those risks, much less actually do something about them to maintain their safety and soundness, let alone broader financial stability. Simply put, banks must consider all risks, regardless of source, not just those that are approved by those prevailing political winds.

Read Better Markets’ statement here.

The CRA requires banks to invest in America’s communities, particularly low- and moderate-income areas that have been discriminated against and generationally underserved.

While the CRA rule wasn’t perfect, it still resulted in critical investments in many communities and provided some protection for low- and moderate-income families against discrimination by banks. In this political move by the banking agencies, the 2023 rule was rolled back, citing “pending litigation.”

Read Better Markets’ statement here.

By withdrawing this advisory, the CFTC is be downplaying the unique risks that come with clearing digital assets such as cybersecurity threats, market volatility, and conflicts of interest. This could leave the financial system more vulnerable and put everyday Americans at greater risk if a crypto-related clearing failure triggers broader market disruptions.