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| MARKETS — FUTURES — as of Sep 11, 6:48 AM ET |
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Friday, September 11 · Lead Nubank Launches United States Operations With Savings Accounts and Credit Cards Nubank went live in the United States on Thursday, offering savings, credit cards and remittances through FDIC-insured Lead Bank. Its own national bank charter, conditionally approved by the OCC in January, is still pending, and the company expects to operate under it by 2027. Deposits pay 3.50% APY, domestic and international transfers carry no fee, and the card pays 1.5% cash back with no annual fee. Alongside the launch, Nu opened Nu Global, a multi-currency account in more than 35 countries whose balances convert into USDC or EURC stablecoins. Until the charter opens, the deposits sit at Lead Bank.
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10-day trend
Sep 11, 6:00 AM ET
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| ▸ | Checkout.com goes direct under a Georgia charter: Checkout.com said September 9 that direct acquiring is live in the United States under a Merchant Acquirer Limited Purpose Bank charter from Georgia. The company says the charter gives it direct access to the card networks, reduces its reliance on third-party intermediaries, and gives it more control across the payment lifecycle. The release names no networks, volumes or customers. Banks that sponsor processors into the card networks are the intermediary layer the company says it is stepping around. |
REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS The day's regulatory actions split between examination relief for community banks and continued pressure on the networks financing Iran's proxies. | ▸ | The 18-month exam cycle doubles its threshold: The Federal Reserve, FDIC and OCC raised the asset ceiling for the 18-month examination cycle from $3 billion to $6 billion on September 10, and regulators estimate as many as 188 community banks may now qualify. Eligibility requires a composite and management rating of 1 or 2, well-capitalized status, no formal enforcement proceeding and no change of control in the prior twelve months, under the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. The interim final rule takes effect on Federal Register publication, with comments due 30 days after. The relief is on-site frequency, not supervision, and the OCC kept discretion to return any institution to a 12-month cycle. |
| ▸ | A nonprofit sues the Fed over the capital rulemaking: Better Markets filed suit Thursday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia against the Federal Reserve Board and Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, alleging she coached bankers in nonpublic meetings on how to comment on proposed capital rules. The claim is procedural — that the comment record was shaped rather than solicited — and if it survives, the exposure runs to the rule's administrative record, not to any supervised institution. Reuters and Barron's both carried the filing. No court has ruled. |
| ▸ | Iran and Venezuela sanctions: OFAC designated four Kata'ib Hizballah commanders and Iraqi officials and businessmen it says facilitate Iranian sanctions evasion on September 10, under Executive Orders 13224 and 13902; several are tied to the government-funded Popular Mobilization Forces, so exposure can run through Iraqi state payroll and contracting flows. FinCEN issued a whistleblower bulletin the same day offering awards for tips on Iran-related illicit finance by proxies and facilitators outside Iran. Two wind-down licences carry hard stops: General License CC for three Golden Global entities expires at 8:01 a.m. EDT September 19, and General License DD for previously authorized civil aviation dealings expires September 23. OFAC also published General Licenses 50A and 51A for named operators working with PdVSA and for Venezuelan gold, with reporting due within 10 days of a first transaction. |
| ▸ | FCC closes a hardware loophole: The Commission's final rule, effective October 13, bars equipment authorization for devices containing logic-bearing components from Covered List entities, a list that grew to include routers and uncrewed aircraft on July 23. Banks meet it through procurement, in refresh cycles and vendor certifications. |
INDUSTRY SIGNALS | ▸ | Oil above $100, yields near 5% — US crude passed $103 a barrel Thursday, up roughly 54% from its July 2 low, with diesel above $6.00 a gallon for the first time on record. Saudi Arabia notified OPEC that production fell 1.9 million barrels a day to 6.2 million, its lowest since 1990. The 10-year Treasury yield crossed 4.90% for the first time since November 2023 and pushed toward 5.00%; the spread over China's 10-year reached a record 324 basis points. August producer prices rose 0.4%, taking the annual rate to 5.4%, and the market now prices a 62% chance of a hike at next week's meeting and 71% by October. The August consumer price report is out this morning, the last input before the September 16 decision. |
| ▸ | Coinbase reaches 1,000 community banks — Coinbase and Moov agreed to supply stablecoin payment and custody infrastructure to more than 1,000 community banks and credit unions. Separately, MVB partnered with Velocity on a Visa Direct stablecoin settlement pilot, and Nasdaq's venture arm put $100 million into Kraken parent Payward on a tokenized-equities partnership. |
| ▸ | Coastal Financial down 43% on BaaS credit — Hagens Berman announced an investigation into Coastal Financial Corporation over its banking-as-a-service credit risk management after shares fell 43%. No regulator has announced an action, and the claims are those of a plaintiffs' firm soliciting investors rather than findings of any authority. Sponsor banks with concentrated program books should expect the disclosure question in their next investor call. |
| ▸ | Mercury clears the FDIC — Mercury received conditional approval for deposit insurance Tuesday, more than 260 days after applying, and must put in $300 million of initial paid-in capital before Mercury Bank, N.A. opens in Salt Lake City; the OCC granted the charter conditional approval in April. It is the second FDIC conditional approval for a proposed digital bank in two weeks, after VALT Bank on August 25. Its founder said work remains before the bank opens. |
POLITICAL & LEGISLATIVE | ▸ | CLARITY Act rewritten before the vote: Senator Cynthia Lummis released a 630-page revised text of the digital-asset market structure bill ahead of the September 15 cloture vote, which needs 60 votes, saying it incorporates 114 provisions requested by Democrats. The DeFi rules now specify when a protocol that is decentralized in name only must register with the CFTC, and apply only to spot or cash transactions in digital commodities. Credit unions gain clearer authority to hold, store and offer digital-asset services to members. The ethics dispute and stablecoin rewards remain unresolved; nearly 80 state bankers associations joined the ABA and ICBA in pressing lawmakers to close what they call the payment-of-interest loophole, arguing yield-bearing stablecoins pull deposits out of local lending. |
| ▸ | Interchange caps back on the agenda: At the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, the President said Wednesday he supports capping credit card swipe fees, the third time he has backed the Credit Card Competition Act. He separately said he does not need congressional approval to issue $5,000 dividends to US adults if Republicans hold the midterms, a claim GOP leaders were not briefed on. For card issuers the relevant number is interchange revenue, not the rhetoric; the bill has no floor time scheduled. |
| ▸ | CFPB's capacity, documented: The bureau's Office of Inspector General reported that stop-work orders left staff temporarily not performing enforcement or supervision, and that consumer complaints have backlogged. Workforce-reduction effects were limited because courts intervened. Supervised institutions should read the backlog as timing risk, not relief — complaints queued now still arrive. |
WHAT'S COMING | ▸ | The Federal Reserve is expected to publish formations, acquisitions, and mergers of bank holding companies today, and the SEC is publishing registration notices for three national securities exchanges: Bitnomial Exchange, KalshiEX, and Coinbase Derivatives. |
| ▸ | The SEC's comment window on electronic delivery of information under the federal securities laws closes September 21. Bank-affiliated broker-dealers and advisers that still default to paper for account statements and prospectus delivery have ten days to put the cost of the current regime on the record. |
WHAT IT MEANS | ▸ | The examination-relief rules and the findings rules land on the same institutions, and only one is reversible by the bank. A $4 billion bank that qualifies for the 18-month cycle holds that relief only while its ratings and capital hold, and the narrower findings standard the OCC and FDIC finalized, covered here September 9, means fewer examiner-supplied warnings before a downgrade arrives. Self-identification carries the weight both rules shed. Boards should ask what the internal early-warning system caught last quarter that no examiner raised. |
Dates That Matter SEP 21
10d | Comments close: Electronic Delivery of Information Under the Federal Securities Laws [SEC] | SEP 25
14d | Comments close: Swap Execution Facility Order Book Requirement for Permitted Transactions [CFTC] | OCT 1
20d | Comments close: Proposal of Special Measure Regarding Banque Misr UAE as a Financial Institution Operating Outside of the… [FinCEN] · Reciprocal Deposits: Implementing the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act [FDIC] · Violations of Laws or Regulations [OCC] | OCT 1
20d | Effective: Telemarketing Sales Rule Fees [FTC] · Financial Data Transparency Act Joint Data Standards [OCC] | OCT 5
24d | Comments close: Disclosure of Information; Extension of Comment Period [FDIC] |
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Signed
Lex
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