Powell hints at changes to the capital requirement plan at FOMC press conference

At the FOMC press conference yesterday, Federal Reserve Chair Powell hinted at changes about the proposed capital requirement increase when asked about Washington's capital regulation plan. Regulators have been split on this proposal since the beginning, pushing it through with a 4-2 vote, an unprecedented move for the Federal Reserve. 

Victoria Guida, POLITICO: "I wanted to ask about the Basel III Endgame capital proposal. You know, you've gotten a lot of pushback from people on different aspects of the proposal and you yourself expressed some reservations and I'm just curious, could you accept finalizing that proposal without significant changes?" 

Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Chair: "So that proposal is out for comment. And we expect a lot of comments. We won't get those comments until the end of winter well into next year. You know, we've extended the deadline, and we'll take them seriously. We'll read them. I'll say what I do expect is that we will, we will come to it. We're a consensus driven organization. We'll come to a package that has broad support on the board." 

Guida: "So does broad support mean more support than the proposal had?"

Powell: "It means broad support."

Powell states that he expects a large amount of comments on the proposed rule and the Federal Reserve will pursue consensus on capital reform. There's a growing coalition of stakeholders expressing concern about the negative consequences of this proposal, urging regulators to reconsider.