The Treasury Department is advancing an overhaul of anti-money-laundering regulations that would shift enforcement power more directly under its control. The proposal, currently in draft form, would allow the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to veto other regulators' findings on Bank Secrecy Act violations, potentially reducing penalties for banks' technical violations. Such a change could address banks' concerns that current AML rules are expensive and overly focused on technical compliance rather than substantive effectiveness.

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American Express CEO Stephen Squeri said the credit card company's network experienced a 9% increase in US retail consumer spending from the week before Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. Squeri also noted a 13% increase in spending among AmEx's Platinum cardholders during the period.

Payments companies are increasingly embracing stablecoins, driven by the GENIUS Act and the growing popularity of digital assets in general. Klarna is testing its KlarnaUSD stablecoin, and Visa, Mastercard, Fiserv and Stripe have announced initiatives to integrate stablecoins into their payment systems. Visa and Mastercard are focusing on international payments, Fiserv is focusing on domestic transactions, and Stripe is focusing on subscription payments.

The Federal Reserve's quarter-percentage-point interest-rate cut this week faced significant internal resistance, with three dissenting votes and four officials quietly objecting by projecting higher rates for 2025. President Donald Trump criticized the cut as insufficient and expressed a desire for lower rates, posing a challenge for Powell's successor. The Fed's decision reflects a split between officials concerned about a weakening labor market and those wary of cutting rates in an economy they think is stronger than it appears.

The Federal Reserve will start purchasing $40 billion in Treasury bills monthly starting Friday to ease short-term funding costs and rebuild reserves, responding to rising short-term rates and funding market pressures. This move comes earlier and is larger than expected, with the Fed noting that reserve balances have declined to ample levels. The New York Fed expects elevated reserve management purchases for a few months before reducing the pace.

The Justice Department has charged Ukrainian national Victoria Eduardovna Dubranova, who is accused of involvement with two Russian-linked hacktivist groups that have targeted US and European institutions with distributed-denial-of-service, or DDoS, attacks. The financial-services sector was targeted in more than one-third of DDoS attacks globally over a recent 18-month period, surpassing all other industries, according to Akamai Technologies.