By: Jaret Seiberg
janv. 22, 2025 - 2 minutes 30 secondsOverview:
- The Big List is our annual preview of Washington policy risk across our coverage universe. Topics discussed include financials, consumer finance, housing, insurance, student lending, markets, crypto, China, cannabis and macro.
- We expect policy supervision to ease, but deregulation will take longer and will depend upon Trump's regulatory picks.
- Key themes include housing as a political threat, the rise of populism, macro unpredictability and increasing levels of U.S. debt.
The TD Cowen Insight
A new President always means significant changes in our Big List, which is our annual preview of the biggest Washington policy issues for banks, consumer finance, payments, student lending, markets, housing, insurance, crypto, and cannabis. We view the policy environment as tumultuous, as Trump is more populist and pro-tariff than in his first term while more tax cuts are unlikely.
Deregulation and Debt Levels Under New Scrutiny
We believe the election of Donald Trump and the Republican sweep of Congress opens the door to deregulation, though the populist wing of the MAGA coalition and legal hurdles will restrain how much can get done. U.S. debt levels are reaching the point where they will force bank regulators to implement policy changes and where they may start complicating efforts to enact Trump's tax cut package.
Five Key Financials Themes for 2025
Our Big List, which we have published since the Financial Crisis hit 17 years ago, covers in one report all the major Washington challenges for the broader financial sector. We also focus on five themes for the year ahead: deregulation, housing, partisan populism, macro unpredictability and the U.S. debt burden.
Financial & Industry Implications
Banks: Supervision should improve but still expect capital, debt and liquidity rules.
Consumer Finance/Payments: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) efforts to limit fees should end, though antitrust debit card market challenge is expected to continue.
Housing: Political pressure to boost supply exists.
Insurance: High cost of premiums are causing political problems, though Washington is unlikely to act.
Student Lending: No more debt forgiveness.
Markets: Less risk to payment for order flow though watching future of Regulation National Market System.
Crypto: The key is for Congress to enact crypto market structure legislation.
China: There is risk that the U.S. de-lists all Chinese stocks.
Cannabis: We still expect Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to move cannabis to Schedule 3.
Macro: Tariffs, tax reforms and global uncertainty will be the norm for the next four years.
What To Watch
- Who Trump picks as regulators
- Congress use of the Congressional Review Act to block Biden-era rules
- How quickly do regulators propose changes to the Supplemental Leverage Ratio?
- Will housing supply incentives be included in the tax package?
- Can crypto community remain united enough to push Congress to enact market structure legislation?
- Does rescheduling of cannabis provide a path for the industry to tap capital markets?
Subscribing clients can read the full report, Big List 2025 For Financials, Housing & Crypto Policy - Ahead Of Curve + Video, on the TD One Portal