Better Markets sued the Federal Reserve and Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman in Washington, D.C., alleging that Bowman's informal contacts with large-bank executives during a public consultation on capital requirements violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The lawsuit challenges a March proposal tied to the final Basel III package that, if adopted as proposed, is estimated to reduce aggregate capital at covered institutions by 4.8%. Public comments closed in June, but the rule has not been finalized. The complaint cites Reuters and Bloomberg reports on Bowman's conversations with bank executives and seeks to halt what Better Markets calls an unlawful rulemaking process. The case is an unusual legal challenge to the Fed's rulemaking and comes amid wider debate over the Trump administration's financial deregulation agenda.