The House Financial Services Committee has published its schedule of hearings for the month of January. Included in the mix, is a gathering of the Fintech Task Force, a relatively new entity created by Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters.
The Fintech Task Force will review the relevance of cash and the emergence of digital payments. The title of the hearing is, “Is Cash Still King? Reviewing the Rise of Mobile Payments.”
Also on the list of hearings, is a full Committee meeting to discuss the topic of non-bank firms leveraging 3rd party bank charters. This hearing is entitled, “Rent-A-Bank Schemes and New Debt Traps: Assessing Efforts to Evade State Consumer Protections and Interest Rate Caps.”
Many Fintechs form partnerships with chartered banks to provide financial services. The relationship is one of necessity as it is very difficult for innovative firms to receive a national bank charter. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) attempted to create a Fintech Charter but established groups have fought against this move by the OCC and so far they are winning. Of course, it is the consumer that really loses.
The entire list of the House Financial Services Committee is listed below. Agendas for each hearing typically show up a couple of days before the hearing.
Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, announced several Committee hearings for the month of January:
- January 14 at 10:00 AM – The full Committee will convene for a hearing entitled, “On the Brink of Homelessness: How the Affordable Housing Crisis and the Gentrification of America Is Leaving Families Vulnerable.”
- January 14 at 2:00 PM – The Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions will convene for a hearing entitled, “The Community Reinvestment Act: Reviewing Who Wins and Who Loses with Comptroller Otting’s Proposal.”
- January 15 at 10:00 AM – The Subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy will convene for a hearing entitled, “A Persistent and Evolving Threat: An Examination of the Financing of Domestic Terrorism and Extremism.”
- January 15 at 2:00 PM – The Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets will convene for a hearing entitled, “Overseeing the Standard Setters: An Examination of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.”
- January 29 at 10:00 AM – The full Committee will convene for a hearing entitled, “The Community Reinvestment Act: Is the OCC Undermining the Law’s Purpose and Intent?”
- January 30 at 10:00 AM – The full Committee will convene for a hearing entitled, “Rent-A-Bank Schemes and New Debt Traps: Assessing Efforts to Evade State Consumer Protections and Interest Rate Caps.”
- January 30 at 2:00 PM – The Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance will convene for a hearing entitled, “Examining the Availability of Insurance for Nonprofits.”
- January 31 at 9:30 AM – The Task Force on Financial Technology will convene for a hearing entitled, “Is Cash Still King? Reviewing the Rise of Mobile Payments.”
Hearings will be broadcast live on https://financialservices.house.gov/live/.