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The Senate Banking Committee will vote again to advance the Federal Reserve chair nomination of Jerome Powell to the full Senate during an executive session tomorrow. The committee had previously advanced Powell's nomination in December, but it must revote because the full Senate didn't approve the appointment before the end of 2017.

Committee members will also revote on appointing Randal Quarles, the Fed's vice chairman for supervision, to a 14-year term at the Federal Reserve. Quarles' current appointment filled out the remainder of a Fed Board term that expires at the end of the month. He was confirmed by the full Senate to serve as vice chair of supervision in October.

Following the votes, the committee will hold another hearing on reforming and strengthening Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) enforcement. Tomorrow's hearing will feature witnesses from the Treasury Department and Justice Department; a hearing on the same topic last week featured witnesses from the private sector, including a representative from The Clearing House Association.

Suggestions before Congress on how to revise BSA requirements include raising the mandatory thresholds for currency transaction reports (CTRs) and suspicious activity reports (SARs), requiring the federal government to collect ownership information on corporate entities and allowing increased information sharing by financial institutions.

NAFCU shared some of these same ideas with the committee last week, along with:

• coordinating law enforcement priorities with credit union examiners to ensure SARs are useful;
• extending filing deadlines and allow simplified notice filings that reference ongoing activity; and
• providing technical grants and training to assist with the cost of software or technological capabilities to reduce the number of man-hours needed.

During last week's hearing, both Republicans and Democrats seemed open to the idea of revising these rules.

The Senate Banking's session will begin at 10 a.m. Eastern tomorrow.