Thursday, October 14, 2021

DOL to Reverse Rules "Chilling" ESG Investing and Proxy Voting

Author: David Schwartz J.D. CPA

The U.S. Labor Department (DOL) has proposed regulations that would greatly expand how retirement and pension plans can invest in ESG strategies and clarify the scope of ERISA plans' responsibility for proxy voting. If adopted, the DOL's proposal, drafted by the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), will reverse the former administration's regulations on ESG factors in retirement portfolios and ERISA fiduciaries' use of proxy voting powers in favor of social...

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Categories: All, Change Overview and Rationale, Cross-Post

Tags: Proxy Voting, DOL, Fiduciary Duty

Monday, August 28, 2017

Fed Chair Rejects Regulatory Roll-back

Financial Reforms Should be Refined, Not Repealed

Author: David Schwartz J.D. CPA

Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet L. Yellen strongly defended post-crisis financial reforms, saying that new regulations have strengthened the U.S. financial markets and wholesale roll-back would be unwise. In remarks delivered at a symposium sponsored by the Fed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming Yellen made the case for the success of these reforms, summarizing indicators and research that show the improved resilience of the U.S. financial system, due, she said,...

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Categories: All, Change Overview and Rationale, Formal Regulatory Remedies

Tags: Reconsideration

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Pension Funds File Sweeping Securities Lending Class Action

Allege collusion by the largest prime brokers

Author: David Schwartz J.D. CPA

Three U.S. pensions have filed a class action suit against the largest prime brokers alleging collusion to fix fees and stifle competing electronic platforms in securities finance. This suit follows the theme of other class actions involving allegations of collusion and manipulation amongst the biggest global banks in relation to LIBOR, municipal bonds, Forex, and interest rate swaps. The suit filed was filed August 16, 2017 in the US Southern District Court of New York as an anti-trust...

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Categories: All, Change Overview and Rationale

Tags: securities lending

Monday, August 14, 2017

Fed President Sees Rebound in Inflation and Modest Wage Growth

Officials reinforce Fed's gradual policy-tightening plan

Author: David Schwartz J.D. CPA

New York Federal Reserve President and CEO William Dudley says he and his Fed colleagues anticipate U.S. inflation to rise gradually over the next several months as the labor market is expected to continue heating up. These trends, Dudley says, support the Fed’s near-term policy tightening. In the New York Fed's August 10, 2017 Regional Economic Press Briefing, Dudley called on the United States to better address factors driving racial inequality of employment and income,...

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Categories: All, Change Overview and Rationale

Tags: Regulatory reform, Dudley

Monday, August 7, 2017

Risk Management Still at the Heart of Financial Regulation

Fed Official Urges a Tiered Risk-Based Calibration of Post-Crisis Reforms

Author: David Schwartz J.D. CPA

In an August 2, 2017 address, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Loretta J. Mester advocated a fresh risk assessment to recalibrate financial regulations and right-size them to ease the burden on smaller banks. Ms. Mester proposed "tiering of oversight by risk,” thereby relieving community banks from much of the regulation intended for larger banks whose activities present different and larger risks to the greater financial system than those of smaller...

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Number of views (8029)

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Categories: All, Change Overview and Rationale, Formal Regulatory Remedies

Tags: Reconsideration

Commentary

DOL to Reverse Rules "Chilling" ESG Investing and Proxy Voting

Fed Chair Rejects Regulatory Roll-back

Financial Reforms Should be Refined, Not Repealed

Pension Funds File Sweeping Securities Lending Class Action

Allege collusion by the largest prime brokers

Fed President Sees Rebound in Inflation and Modest Wage Growth

Officials reinforce Fed's gradual policy-tightening plan

Risk Management Still at the Heart of Financial Regulation

Fed Official Urges a Tiered Risk-Based Calibration of Post-Crisis Reforms

Journal Commentaries

Keep Regulation Functional (October 2008)

The Bear Market Posse, or Counterparty Risk Management during the Recent Turmoil (Sept. 2008)

Searching for New Paradigms at BIS (July 2008)

Will Basel II Affect The Competitive Landscape? (September 2003)