Among the highlights from the Consumer Bankers Association’s (CBA) annual conference was a March 31 general session featuring policymakers and industry executives discussing the impact certain regulatory shifts could have on the financial marketplace and small businesses.
The speakers included Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill (R-Ark.), SoFi CEO Anthony Noto and Circle President Heath Tarbert.
Capital standards
Bowman, who recently commented on the prudential banking agencies’ joint proposal to “modernize” federal capital requirements as they relate to smaller financial institutions, spoke with CBA President and CEO Lindsey Johnson on stage at CBA LIVE 2026 about the important role these entities play in funding small businesses.
“Supporting credit for small businesses is critical to our economy,” Bowman said. “As we evaluate the Basel proposals, we must ask whether these regulations support or restrict lending to the small businesses that drive US growth and create jobs. Our regulatory framework must provide access to capital for these businesses to ensure our rules support the economy. When small businesses succeed, so do American workers and our economy.”
CFPB reform
The same day the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a new reduction-in-force (RIF) plan, which would dramatically restructure the agency if permitted to proceed by the courts, Hill offered his views on forthcoming legislative pieces also proposing major reforms to the bureau.
“There are questions many of you have in your board room about how the Trump administration will reform the CFPB [...] and many of its regulations like Section 1033,” Hill said, addressing the audience. “[...] I think you will see [the House Financial Services Committee] this year bring out a series of reforms in the House and we will see the Trump Administration make progress on a new [Section] 1071 rule, a new [Section] 1033 rule, both of which are policies that CBA has advocated for.”
National bank charters
SoFi CEO Anthony Noto expressed his view that any institution that offers interest on stored assets should be an insured depository institution (IDI) with a national bank charter.
“People shouldn’t be able to give interest on stored values or deposits unless they’re an IDI, and that’s to ensure safety and soundness,” Noto said. “If you’re going to take someone’s assets and use it for anything else, you should reach the highest standard, which is a national bank charter, not a national trust. National trust, they get to accept and hold, but they don’t get to leverage it for other things. It’s just that simple.”
Some banking advocacy organizations have expressed opposition to a rule issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, clarifying its chartering authority over national trusts, which took effect April 1.
Digital assets
Johnson engaged Tarbert in a discussion about the intersection of traditional banking and digital assets, during which Tarbert highlighted the increasing role federally insured financial institutions are taking in building a support for a secure, compliant digital currency framework. He said this underscores the importance of establishing clear regulatory frameworks to enable this type of innovation while maintaining consumer protection.
Legislative measures aimed at establishing a legal framework for digital assets have encountered some obstacles to implementation and many states have stepped up in an effort to get ahead of the issue with policies of their own.
Dodd Frank Update attended CBA LIVE 2026 and will have several articles recapping the lessons and insights gleaned from multiple educational sessions we attended in the weeks to come.