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- Key Insight: Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Russell Vought claims the CFPB will run out of money in early January, an issue that may be moot if the Federal Reserve System returns to profitability.Â
- Supporting Data: The Trump administration’s strategy of eliminating the bureau is at odds with the agency’s aggressive regulatory agenda.
- Expert Quote: “I think that you’re seeing a hollowing out of the CFPB,” said one banking expert. “But the shell remains.” Â
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- Key insight: Under Chair Travis Hill, the FDIC has undergone a sweeping deregulatory and institutional reset, rolling back Biden-era rules, accelerating mergers and charters, embracing fintech and crypto activity, and shrinking its own footprint.
- Supporting data: The agency cut 1,300+ staff this year, revoked job offers made to bank examiners and will apparently continue to operate with two vacant minority-party board seats.
- Forward look: In 2026, the FDIC will likely confront a Supreme Court ruling that further weakens independent regulators’ removal protections, deepening the White House’s direct control over the agency.
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- Key insight: A job-simulation academy turns nontraditional candidates into AI-ready hires.
- What’s at stake: Banks risk falling behind without scalable pipelines for AI-native talent.
- Forward look: Expect credential-based hiring and AI-tool fluency to reshape talent strategies.
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- Key insight: The Treasury Department has issued guidance on rounding prices to the nearest nickel, which industry groups had said was necessary amid a penny shortage induced by the Trump administration’s decision to halt production of the one-cent coins.
- What’s at stake: The abrupt cancellation of the penny sparked confusion among banks, businesses and consumers.Â
- Forward look:Â Banks are still calling for the Federal Reserve to resume accepting pennies at many coin terminals across the country, saying that the Fed’s decision to stop accepting the coins at many locations has contributed to the penny shortage.
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Exclusive research: Bankers predict 2026 will bring surprise advances in AI, crypto
- American Banker’s 2026 Predictions report was fielded online during October and November of 2025 among 174 banking professionals who work across a variety of executive roles at banks, credit unions, neobanks and payments companies. The survey found that bankers think the industry isn’t prepared for growth in artificial intelligence and digital assets.
- Read more of our exclusive research report here.
- Key Insight: While bank CEOs don’t typically weigh in on political debates or discuss government policy, 2025 under the second Trump administration was filled with such moments.
- Expert Quote: “Volatility causes people to do nothing. It just raises a lot of questions, and questions typically slow things down.” —Dan Rollins, CEO of Cadence Bank
- Supporting Data: Tariffs targeted nearly all U.S. trading partners in April, disrupting client supply chains. Â
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