Janet Yellen, the Biden administration’s Treasury Secretary nominee and former chair of the Federal Reserve, outlined some key financial industry priorities in a Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Jan. 19.

President-elect Joe Biden will nominate Gary Gensler as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Rohit Chopra as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is suing Ripple, the company behind the cryptocurrency XRP, alleging it violated federal securities laws. The regulator claims it conducted a $1.3B unregistered securities offering.

Brokerage Robinhood this week agreed to pay a civil penalty of $65M over charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission that it was misleading customers.

Libra, the Facebook-backed digital currency, is now called Diem, the latin word for “day”. The Libra Association, the Switzerland-based international body that oversees the currency, will now be called the Diem Association.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has cleared the way for Mastercard to acquire data aggregator Finicity, in a deal valued at $825 million.

India’s antitrust body opened an investigation into the Google Pay app, alleging it was abusing its market position and forcing developers to use it. India’s probe comes weeks after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an antitrust suit against Google for alleged illegal monopolization of the search and ad markets.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an antitrust lawsuit in California challenging Visa’s planned acquisition of data aggregator Plaid.

The future of several critical financial industry issues hangs in the balance with the lack of a clear U.S. election result.

Personal finance and lending fintech SoFi obtained a green light from Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for its bank charter application three months after applying.

Visa’s $5.3B acquisition of Plaid is facing scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which filed a petition with a court demanding answers to a series of questions. The DOJ will assess whether the acquisition violates antitrust law.

U.K.-based challenger bank Revolut, which has 13 million customers, plans to apply for a banking license in California, CNBC reported.

A Buzzfeed investigation on more than 2,100 suspicious activity reports banks filed with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network reveals that over a period of nearly two decades, major institutions moved trillions of dollars for suspected terrorists, drug dealers, and corrupt foreign government officials.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) this week released proposals regarding SME lenders that could be exempted from data collection requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act.

An Executive Order dated August 6 prohibits “any transaction that is related to WeChat by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.” It takes effect in 45 days of the Order, and includes digital payments through WeChat.