All - Center for the Study of Financial Market Evolution (CSFME)

Should Other Countries Take the Volcker Rule Plunge First?

by David Schwartz J.D. CPA | Friday, September 21, 2012 | All, Formal Regulatory Remedies

Rep. Peter King (R-NY), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, will soon introduce a bill to suspend enforcement of the Volker Rule until the Treasury Department can certify that other countries have adopted and are abiding by similar statutory restrictions on on proprietary trading and sponsoring hedge funds by financial institutions. The U.S. Financial Services Global Viability Act specifically targets the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Brazil, China, Canada, and Mexico as jurisdictions of concern.

Full Speed Ahead on the Volcker Rules Says Senior Treasury Official

by David Schwartz J.D. CPA | Wednesday, September 19, 2012 | All, Change Overview and Rationale, Formal Regulatory Remedies

Despite efforts to delay or prevent them, the Volker Rules are on their way says Treasury Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Mary Miller in remarks to the American Banker Regulatory Symposium. Miller says the five regulators working on the rules have read carefully the 18,000 comment letters on their initial proposal, and expect to issue final Volker Rules perhaps by year end.

Hedge Funds: “We’re not Shadow Banks”

by David Schwartz J.D. CPA | Wednesday, September 19, 2012 | All, Change Overview and Rationale

In a May 16, 2012 letter to the European Commission, the Managed Fund Association (MFA), an association of hedge funds and managed future firms, shot back at the FSB’s April 2011 greenpaper/background note on shadow banking. In its response, MFA argues that it was a mistake to include hedge funds as part of the shadow banking system as the FSB has defined it.

CFPB Launches Its Non-Bank Supervision Program

by David Schwartz J.D. CPA | Wednesday, September 19, 2012 | All, Formal Regulatory Remedies

On January 5, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) launched its non-bank supervision program. The initiative is mandated by Dodd-Frank, and will be an extension of the CFPB’s bank supervision program that began last July. The program is intended to ensure that banks and non-banks follow federal consumer financial laws.

How Do Mutual Funds Navigate Proxy Voting?

by David Schwartz J.D. CPA | Wednesday, September 19, 2012 | All

Mutual funds hold substantial power to inﬂuence corporate governance around the world. In the United States alone, mutual funds own over a quarter of the outstanding shares of U.S. stocks. Clearly, this represents an enormous amount of the voting power. And, along with all this power comes great responsibility. How can funds vote these proxies … Continue reading “How Do Mutual Funds Navigate Proxy Voting?Notice”

SEC Chief Sees Reg Reform and Consumer Protection as One Goal

by David Schwartz J.D. CPA | Wednesday, September 19, 2012 | All, Change Overview and Rationale, Formal Regulatory Remedies

Despite the legislation’s two-part name, “The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,” SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro understands financial regulatory reform and consumer protection to be one thing, not two separate goals. In her October 26, 2012 remarks at George Washington University, Chairman Schapiro states that she sees Dodd-Frank, though still a work in a progress, as founded on some very simple guiding principles that benefit all market participants in the long run and are the basis for both sound regulation and consumer protection. According to Schapiro, these principles are:

GAO Wants Greater Transparency from the FSOC

by David Schwartz J.D. CPA | Wednesday, September 19, 2012 | All

In a recently concluded study, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) says, among other things, that Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and Office of Financial Research (OFR) could benefit from more transparency.

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Voices Concerns Over Volcker Rules

by David Schwartz J.D. CPA | Wednesday, September 19, 2012 | All, Formal Regulatory Remedies

George Osborne, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, voiced concernsabout the potential negative effects the proposed Volker Rule provisions may have on the liquidity of global funding markets and particularly non-US sovereign debt markets. Osborne communicated these concerns via a January 23, 2012 letter to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Will Money Market Reform Rise from the Dead?

by David Schwartz J.D. CPA | Friday, September 14, 2012 | All, Formal Regulatory Remedies

As Mark Twain famously said, “The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” The same can be said for about the rumors of the death of money market reform, following the SEC’s announcement that it’s leaders could not reach consensus on the topic.

Is Your Risk Strategy a True Team Effort?

by David Schwartz J.D. CPA | Tuesday, August 28, 2012 | All

As companies move beyond managing financial crisis issues, they are turning to a more holistic look at their firms’ governance activities. KPMG recently conducted a study that finds that even with risk management, contingency planning, financial reporting and controls, compliance, internal audit, strategic planning and execution, and board oversight all in place, most respondents were not satisfied that these governance activities are appropriately focused on the greatest risks to their company’s reputation and brand. According to the KPMG survey, coordination and integration of these functions are key to adding real value to dealing with risk hotspots.

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