Major banks on Wall Street are preparing to face more stringent scrutiny after Democrats took control of the US Congress, as executives and analysts expect lawmakers to open investigations into cost-of-living issues and summon bank presidents to testify.
Democrats are already preparing to investigate the business dealings of President Donald Trump and members of his administration.
Banking sources said that the sector also expects that the major shift in the balance of power in Washington will allow lawmakers to advance efforts to combat financial fraud supported by artificial intelligence.
Lawyers and analysts widely expect Democrats to investigate consumer finance practices that may increase burdens on customers, such as unnecessary fees, predatory lending and subprime mortgages.
A banking source said Democrats may also consider whether rolling back legislation and oversight has hurt customers or weakened lenders.
Two other sources added that the banks expect to allocate more time to respond to inquiries from Congressional staff and prepare for the hearings.
“There will certainly be attempts to reimpose some restrictions on banks,” said Peter Ricciotti, a professor at Tulane University's Freeman School of Business. Consumer protection initiatives may return to the forefront.”
In 2024, the heads of major Wall Street banks, from Jamie Dimon, head of JP Morgan Chase, to David Solomon, head of Goldman Sachs, were quick to congratulate Trump, welcoming the Republican president as a supporter of business.
Over the past two years, the banking sector has achieved significant gains, including easing capital requirements, along with other important regulatory policy victories under the Trump administration. But Trump also targeted some banks, accusing the sector of refusing to provide services to clients for political reasons. He also filed a lawsuit himself against JP Morgan Chase. The banks denied Trump's accusations.
Currently, lawyers and advisors in the banking sector are trying to determine how to deal with the Democrats, who will take control of both houses of the US Congress next January, giving them specialized teams in investigations and the power to subpoena witnesses and documents.
They said that many financial services companies are assessing the risks associated with their dealings with the Trump administration, and identifying areas that may interest Congress. They added that some of these companies have already begun communicating with senior Democratic legislators.
Tom Perez, a partner at the law firm Mayer Brown, said during an event in Washington on parliamentary oversight last week: “I consider the period from now until the end of the year to be one of the most important periods, during which many proactive steps can be taken.”
He added that companies should review any pending parliamentary inquiries that they may not have addressed yet, noting that “the letter I received six months ago may turn into a subpoena from Congress next January.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren, the most prominent Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee and a long-time critic of Wall Street, is the most likely candidate to chair the committee. As for Representative Maxine Waters, she is the most prominent Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee and the most prominent candidate to chair it.
Both have repeatedly raised concerns about affordability, including housing costs, and have accused the administration of undermining consumer protections in financial services.
In return, the administration says it is working to reduce regulatory burdens that hinder lending activities.
During her previous chairmanship of the House Financial Services Committee, Waters summoned the heads of the largest banks to testify. TD Coin analysts expect this to happen again. They also pointed to policy risks; Among them is imposing a cap on interest rates on credit cards, an issue for which this approach has broad bipartisan support.
“Total control of Congress likely increases the likelihood that bank presidents will be called to testify before it, with their institutions exposed to more hearings,” TD Coin analysts wrote.
However, banks still see an opportunity to push some regulatory files to serve their interests, and have begun to agree on a specific idea, which is to demand that technology companies and social media platforms make greater efforts to reduce financial fraud that harms consumers, according to four banking sources.
The rapid development of artificial intelligence is leading to the emergence of more complex financial fraud operations, exposing bank customers to greater risks.
“We need to do something to protect customers,” Stephen Steinor, CEO of Huntington Bancshares, said in an interview with Reuters.
He added that technology companies should commit to excluding accounts linked to scammers, expressing his belief that there is a good chance of obtaining bipartisan support on this issue.
One of the banking sources said that the sector believes it can take advantage of the strong popular opposition to the development of artificial intelligence and its infrastructure, including data centers, which emerged during the midterm elections, to push the anti-fraud file within Congress.
As part of these efforts, banks may also pressure lawmakers to review the regulations governing money transfers, according to a former regulatory source familiar with the issue.
Banks are preparing for early communication with regulators on files likely to come under scrutiny, including fraud, credit card charges, artificial intelligence and consumer protection, according to banking sources.
“In our view, the wave of bank-friendly legislation has likely reached its end,” TDCoin analysts wrote.
Land ports in Saudi Arabia recorded growth in passenger and freight traffic during the year 2025, while the number of registered and roadable vehicles increased to more than 16.7 million vehicles, according to road transport statistics issued by the General Authority for Statistics.
Statistics showed that the total number of passengers arriving and departing through land ports exceeded 70.7 million passengers, an increase of 7.2 percent compared to 2024, which recorded about 65.9 million passengers. The number of arrivals reached more than 37 million passengers, constituting 52.3 percent of the total, compared to 33.7 million departures, representing 47.7 percent.
The King Fahd Causeway port accounted for the largest share of passenger traffic through land ports, at 49.1 percent, followed by Al-Khafji port, at 12.2 percent. January recorded the highest passenger traffic of the year with more than 7.4 million passengers, while March was the lowest with about 4.6 million passengers.
In the shipping sector, the total quantities of goods exported and imported through land ports increased to more than 26.8 million tons during 2025, an increase of 4.4 percent compared to 2024. The quantities of exported freight reached 14.3 million tons, an increase of 6.3 percent, while the imported freight recorded 12.5 million tons, an increase of 2.4 percent.
Al-Wadiah port topped the Kingdom's ports in the movement of outbound and imported freight, accounting for 27.9 percent of total land exports and 31.9 percent of imports. Al-Haditha port came next in terms of outgoing freight with 23.2 percent, while Al-Bathaa port accounted for 26 percent of incoming freight.
In terms of vehicles, the number of registered and roadworthy vehicles exceeded 16.7 million vehicles by the end of 2025, an increase of 5.3 percent compared to about 15.8 million vehicles at the end of the previous year. Privately registered vehicles accounted for 71.2 percent of the total, followed by private transportation vehicles with 20 percent, then public transportation vehicles with 4.4 percent.
The number of vehicles registered for the first time during the year reached about 1.1 million vehicles, an increase of 3.6 percent year-on-year.
With regard to traffic safety, the Kingdom recorded 17,805 serious traffic accidents during 2025, compared to 17,251 accidents in 2024, an increase of approximately 3.2 percent. Accidents occurring within cities accounted for 62.5 percent of the total.
The death rate resulting from traffic accidents rose to 11.99 deaths per 100,000 people, an increase of 6.2 percent compared to 2024, while the injury rate decreased to 65.53 deaths per 100,000 people, a 3.9 percent decrease.
The total number of traffic accident deaths reached 4,448 deaths, compared to 4,113 deaths in the previous year. Males accounted for 86.2 percent of the total, while the age group between 19 and 30 years recorded the highest percentage, at 33.5 percent.
Regarding driving licenses, the total number of valid licenses exceeded 11.3 million licenses by the end of the year, of which private licenses constituted 87.2 percent. The share of Saudis among the total number of license holders was 51 percent, compared to 49 percent for non-Saudis, while the percentage of males was 87.6 percent, compared to 12.4 percent for females.
Statistics showed that about 1.17 million new driving licenses were issued during 2025, a decrease of 8.1 percent compared to 2024, which recorded about 1.27 million licenses. The number of renewed licenses exceeded 1.1 million, declining by the same amount on an annual basis.
The Riyadh region topped the administrative regions in terms of issuing new driving licenses, accounting for 37.4 percent of the total, followed by the Makkah Al-Mukarramah region with 25.8 percent, then the Eastern Region with 17.2 percent.
