Next week will be a big one for Federal Reserve watchers, as both the board chairman and vice chairman for supervision offer comments on stress testing, financial regulation and (of course) monetary policy – or anything else members of the Senate and House may want to talk about.
Chairman Jerome H. (“Jay”) Powell testifies twice in the week ahead, both times for his semiannual monetary policy report to Congress, before (respectively) the House Financial Services Committee (Wednesday at 10 a.m.) and the Senate Banking Committee (Thursday at 10).
Although both sessions ostensibly are to focus on the Fed’s open market policies, no doubt committee members on both sides of the aisle will want to discuss a variety of other topics – including the Fed’s ongoing independence. President Donald Trump, who named Powell as chairman, is critical of Powell’s performance with respect to interest rates. The president has reportedly mused about replacing Powell as chairman; Powell has said he intends to serve out the remainder of his four-year term in the seat.
Also next week for the Federal Reserve:
- Tuesday, 8:45 a.m.: Powell delivers remarks (via video) to the Federal Reserve Board’s conference “Stress Testing: A Discussion and Review,” held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
- Also Tuesday: Vice Chair for Supervision Randal K. Quarles at 2 p.m. gives a speech on stress testing at the same Boston conference (streamed live via the Internet).
- Thursday: Quarles participates in a discussion about “Financial Regulation and Monetary Policy” at 1:30 p.m. (also streamed live via the Internet).
Other events in the week ahead include:
- Tuesday, 10 a.m.: The appraisal subcommittee of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), an umbrella group for the federal financial institution regulators, gathers to consider a temporary waiver request submitted by the state of North Dakota.
- Thursday, 9 a.m.: The Treasury’s Financial Research Advisory Committee meets to discuss leveraged lending and transitioning from the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) to the new Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), designated as a replacement for the LIBOR.
- Thursday, after 3 p.m.: The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board releases the agenda for its meeting the following week (July 18 at 10 a.m.)