U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, introduced legislation aimed at increasing competition in the housing market. The proposed Housing Acquisitions Review and Transparency (HART) Act mandates that corporations and private equity firms report significant residential property transactions to antitrust enforcers. This measure is intended to prevent anticompetitive practices that could lead to higher housing costs, reduced services, and exclusion of homebuyers from the market.
The mortgage portfolio expanded by 3.1% over the month, compared to 1.7% in May, according to preliminary data. The acceleration was associated with borrowers’ desire to raise a mortgage loan before the termination of the Subsidised Mortgage programme and changes in the Family Mortgage programme. Mortgages issued under the subsidised programmes accounted for 80%.
Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), and Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, addressed a press conference in Frankfurt am Main on July 18, 2024. They announced that the Governing Council decided to keep the three key ECB interest rates unchanged.
Annual inflation in most regions of Russia accelerated in June, increasing by 0.29 percentage points on average compared to May, reaching 8.59%. Price growth sped up in 62 Russian regions.
Today, the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry (NC-10), and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (CA-43) released a staff report from the Committee’s bipartisan Working Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI). The group is led by Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion Subcommittee Chairman French Hill (AR-02) and Subcommittee Ranking Member Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08). This report culminates six roundtables focused on identifying existing and growing AI use cases across the financial services and housing industries, examining benefits, potential...
The Banking Standards Committee has approved the Standard for Protecting the Rights and Legitimate Interests of Mortgage Borrowers and will soon submit it to the Bank of Russia for approval.
In July, companies' business activity continued to expand. The Bank of Russia's Business Climate Index was higher than the 2023 average, despite a drop to 7.7 points.
In June, the Bank of Russia published a consultation paper on regulating concentration risks that have considerably grown in certain banks over the past few years. The document proposes to amend the regulation gradually, from 2025 to 2030, and to provide banks with concentration risk management tools to help them achieve the ratio targets.
Today, the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry (NC-10), announced an upcoming hearing for the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee. The hearing is titled “Housing Solutions: Cutting Through Government Red Tape.”
The Bank of Russia has approved a procedure for excluding information about individuals and companies from the database on actual and attempted unauthorized money transfers. This new regulation will come into force on July 26.
Economic activity significantly increased over May and June, according to recent data. Moreover, aggregate demand continues to expand at a pace exceeding the economy’s capacity. The growth rates of consumer prices were up as well.
The Bank of Russia has revised the List of RUONIA Panel Banks in accordance with the “Procedure for Selecting Credit Institutions for the List of RUONIA Panel Banks” effective from 24 August 2021 and approved the updated List of RUONIA Panel Banks.
The Bank of Russia and the Russian Small and Medium Business Corporation have signed an information exchange agreement to bolster support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The Bank of Russia has announced the suspension of releasing statistics on amounts of trading in the US dollar, euro, and yuan against the ruble. This decision is based on results from over-the-counter (OTC) trading for 'tomorrow' settlements.
The Canadian Survey of Consumer Expectations for the second quarter of 2024 was conducted through an online panel from April 26 to May 15, with follow-up phone interviews taking place from May 14 to May 23. The survey results indicate that consumers' perceptions of inflation remain unchanged from the previous quarter, but their expectations for inflation over the next 12 months have declined significantly. Despite this improvement, both measures are still higher than pre-pandemic levels.
The Business Outlook Survey for the second quarter of 2024, conducted by in-person, video, and phone interviews from May 9 to 29, reveals that firms' sales outlooks remain mostly unchanged from the previous quarter and continue to be more pessimistic than average. Businesses tied to discretionary spending report particularly weak sales expectations, while those associated with essential spending see population growth benefiting their sales.