Track Regulatory Reform
Gensler updates hedge fund group on oversight, derivatives trading
Jun 25 2009 Stuart Gittleman Recommended
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler in Chicago Wednesday updated members of a hedge fund advocacy group, the Managed Funds Association, on the Obama administration's recent proposals on fund regulation and derivatives trading.
Gensler discussed how Obama's call for broad, sweeping and bold reforms to prevent a recurrence of the financial breakdowns through greater oversight, transparency and accountability would impact fund advisers, portfolio managers and traders.
Frank aims to set powers of consumer financial protection agency by August
Jun 25 2009 Ted Knutson Recommended
Barney Frank said Wednesday he wants the House Financial Services Committee to define the powers of a proposed consumer financial protection agency and approve its creation by the start of the Congressional recess in August.
Frank (Democrat, Massachusetts), who chairs the committee, called the proposal, which is one of the centerpieces of President Barack Obama's financial regulatory reform package, "a very good one." The fear expressed by some industry lobbyists that the oversight body would ravage the financial sector is unfounded, he added.
Bankruptcy experts question wisdom of giving SEC power to resolve 'too-big-to-fail' firms
Jun 25 2009 Ted Knutson Recommended
Some prominent members of the bankruptcy bar have told Complinet they wonder whether the Securities and Exchange Commission is the best choice to resolve a "too-big-to-fail" bank holding company-securities brokerage combination.
The question arises because the administration's blueprint for financial regulatory reform would let the Treasury Department "appoint the SEC as conservator or receiver when the largest subsidiary of the failing firm, measured by total assets, is a broker-dealer or securities firm."
SEC considering OTC derivatives rules while Congress debates wider reform proposals
Jun 23 2009 Ted Knutson Recommended
The Securities and Exchange Commission may promulgate rules on over-the-counter derivatives while Congress is considering President Barack Obama's wider-ranging financial regulatory reform proposals, SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said Monday.
The Obama plan would subject derivatives to recordkeeping and reporting requirements for all OTC positions and transactions, including keeping a complete audit trail and reporting any trades that are not centrally cleared to a regulated trade repository.
Geithner defends urgency of regulatory reform plan
Jun 19 2009 Ted Knutson
The need for financial regulatory reform is urgent, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the Senate Banking Committee Thursday, but acknowledged that President Barack Obama's plan released Wednesday does not address all of the system's problems.
Geithner says council of regulators would plug gaps in regulatory system
Jun 19 2009 Emmanuel Olaoye
Tim Geithner, the Treasury secretary, told a Senate Banking Committee hearing yesterday that a council of regulators would help plug the gaps that allowed institutions to escape regulation in the run up to the financial crisis.
"Loopholes that allowed some institutions to shop for the weakest regulator and the rise of new financial institutions and instruments that were almost entirely outside the government's supervisory framework left regulators largely blind to emerging dangers," Geithner said
Ketchum says independent SRO is critical to reform plan
Jun 19 2009 Stuart Gittleman Recommended
The continued independence of securities industry self-regulation is critical to President Barack Obama's just-released regulatory reform proposal, Rick Ketchum, chairman and chief executive officer of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, said Wednesday. Ketchum spoke at the Exchequer Club, a Washington DC forum for senior professionals from trade associations, federal regulatory agencies, law firms, Congressional committees and the national press to discuss economic, political and financial issues.
Schapiro backs Obama proposals as strengthening SEC, supports fiduciary standard for broker-dealers
Jun 19 2009 Nick Paraskeva Recommended
SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro spoke to the New York Financial Writers' last night, in her first speech since the Obama regulatory restructuring proposals were issued. Her statements strongly backed the administration's proposals as "going a long way to strengthening the SEC" and improving investor protection.
Administration regulatory reform compromise leads to more regulators, more complex rules
Jun 18 2009 Nick Paraskeva
The Obama Administration rolled-out its long-awaited regulatory restructuring proposals today, and rather than rationalizing the regulatory structure as many had hoped, the proposals will lead to more complexity.
Instead of reducing the number of US regulators, there is a net increase. New bodies include the Financial Services Oversight Council to identify emerging systemic risks, a Consumer Financial Protection Agency and a new Office of National Insurance. The only agency eliminated is the OTS, which is being rolled into the OCC and renamed the National Bank Supervisor. This appears inconsistent with the proposal's opening statement that "we must build a new foundation for financial regulation and supervision that is simpler and more effectively enforced."
Complinet finds views on Obama plan generally positive
Jun 18 2009 Ted Knutson
A sampling of initial reactions from lawmakers, regulators, and financial industry trade associations and firms to the financial regulatory reform plan offered by President Barack Obama Wednesday was generally positive, Complinet found. But the acid test in the coming months will be lobbying activity, Congressional cloakroom debates, and contributions to political action committees and reelection campaigns.
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