Sam Knight - page 32

The Supreme Court said on Monday that Puerto Rico lacks the authority to restructure its municipal debt. Justices ruled 5-2 that a law passed in 2014 by the territory is preempted by the federal bankruptcy code. The legislation had sought to modify debt held by the island’s municipal utilities—believed to be worth about $20 billion. As Clarence Thomas noted in the majority opinion, Congress in 1984 specifically excluded Puerto Rico from the federal bankruptcy code. The court said parts of the Puerto Rican law being… Keep Reading

Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday voted against the White House’s move to reappoint two Social Security Trustees. Lawmakers cited three decades of precedent and one nominee’s ties to think-tanks and his views on downsizing crucial welfare benefits. Republicans approved of the nominations—one from each party—in two separate votes, split 14-12 strictly along partisan lines. “As has been the case, I’m supporting the President on both these nominees,” a bemused committee chair, Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), noted at the conclusion of the meeting. “These… Keep Reading

The highest ranking Congressman overseeing banking regulation met with Donald Trump in New York on Tuesday, after unveiling a plan to repeal much of Dodd-Frank. House Financial Services Committee Chair Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) declined to go into the gritty details when asked about the meeting on Fox Business Channel. He said Trump “well-received the message” and is “interested in the policy.” “I’m not going to go into the blow-by-blow,” he said. Hensarling, who endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in the primary and is backing Trump… Keep Reading

Fed Chair Janet Yellen laughed in response to a question about the possibility of a Donald Trump victory in November causing “an economic crash all over the world.” “I’m sorry, I’ve got nothing for you,” she said, while chuckling. “We’re very focused on doing our jobs, and we’ll see what happens.” Yellen was responding Monday morning to an audience member’s question after addressing the World Affairs Council in Philadelphia. The speech came as the national spotlight is on the Fed, with the central bank looking likely to… Keep Reading

Climate change will eventually force the US government to spend billions more annually due to hurricane damage alone, according to a Congressional Budget Office report published Thursday. The influential legislative forecaster said the federal government currently spends $18 billion every year on hurricane recovery, but that amount, adjusted for inflation, will grow to $24 billion by 2075. Overall, the study predicted that hurricane damage will by 2075 account for $39 billion in all spending, public and private. The CBO said the US currently spends $28 billion on… Keep Reading

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray touted existing alternatives to payday lending on Thursday, as the agency released long-anticipated rules to curtail abusive loansharking. Cordray described the so-called “small-dollar” credit market as fundamentally broken, and said he hoped the proposed regulations would push the financial industry toward less predatory practices. “We are not intending to disrupt existing lending by community banks and credit unions that have found efficient and effective ways to make small-dollar loans to consumers that do not lead to debt traps… Keep Reading

Lower crude prices aren’t just hurting oil companies, they’re also inflicting pain on the country’s largest banks. Commercial and industrial loan payments overdue by three or more months were up in the first quarter by $3.3 billion, according to an FDIC report published Wednesday. The 2.4-percent uptick in commercial and industrial delinquencies was “the first quarterly increase in total noncurrent loan balances in 24 quarters,” the federal banking regulator said. The report noted the trend resulted from “[s]harply lower energy prices,” and that it disproportionately impacted… Keep Reading

A federal appeals court in Richmond, Va. declined to reconsider a high profile ruling it made in favor of a transgender student. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday that it would not rehear a case brought by Gavin Grimm. A 16-year-old transgender boy, Grimm was granted the right by the court to sue his local school board for attempting to keep him out of the boys’ bathroom. Grimm was born female but came out as a transgender male in high school. He was allowed… Keep Reading

The first shipment in years of US rice to Cuba arrived on the island amid a trade delegation led by Gov. Jay Nixon (D-Mo.). Twenty tons of the commodity earlier this week reached the Port of Mariel, near Havana, courtesy of the Missouri-based Martin Rice Company. Cuban trade minister Maria de la Luz B’Hamel called the gift “a symbol on the start of lasting relationships that could be strengthened with all US agricultural producers,” according to a Cuban state news report published Monday. The US… Keep Reading