Trump team exploring streamlining bank regulations and agencies, sources say

 The Trump transition team is exploring the possibility of streamlining the authority of several government agencies tasked with regulating the banking industry, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The discussion, according to sources who have been briefed, has focused first on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which provides a backstop against consumers’ money in basic bank accounts. Trump allies have discussed the possibility of giving Treasury oversight of deposit insurance, allowing the federal government to substantially shrink or close the remainder of the FDIC.

Other proposals being discussed include transferring the non-monetary authority of the Federal Reserve to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and reorganizing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The approach is outlined in Project 2025, the 922-page white paper published by the Heritage Foundation that’s served as a blueprint for some conservatives on how Trump should approach his second term.

“The new Administration should establish a more streamlined bank and supervision by supporting legislation to merge the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Federal Reserve’s non-monetary supervisory and regulatory functions,” the section titled “Improving Financial Regulation” reads.

But carrying out such a sea change in practice is expected to be difficult if not impossible. Changing an agency’s statutory authority — or eliminating it altogether — would require a bipartisan act of Congress. Past efforts have been met with steep resistance.

During negotiations over the Dodd-Frank financial reforms that followed the Great Recession, for instance, a proposal to change the regulatory authority of the Federal Reserve ultimately failed after officials warned senators of the state-level job losses that would result.