News
BIS Issues New Consultation on G-SIBs
On March 30, 2017, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BIS) issued a consultation proposing changes to the framework employed to designate global systemically important banks (G-SIBs). The consultation also proposes higher capital requirements on G-SIBs. The revised G-SIB assessment framework supersedes the framework proposed by BIS in July of 2013, a process BIS has committed to revisit every three years. This latest revision maintains the previously adopted system assessing the relative systemic importance of internationally active banks based on 12 indicators in five categories, resulting in a score that measures the systemic importance of each bank. The bank’s overall score is then mapped to buckets that are associated with a higher loss absorbency (HLA) capital requirement.
GOP Congressmen Warn the Fed to Freeze their Rules
On February 23, 2017 House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) and 33 GOP members of the Committee sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen requesting that the Fed “neither propose nor adopt any new rules until the U.S. Senate confirms a [Federal Reserve] Vice Chairman for Supervision.”
Fed Chair Rejects Regulatory Roll-back
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, “importantly to regulatory reform as well as actions taken by the private sector.”
Pension Funds File Sweeping Securities Lending Class Action
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 action by the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System, Orange County Employees Retirement System and Sonoma County Employees’ Retirement Association.
FSB Issues Recommendations for Asset Management Vulnerabilities
On January 12, 2017, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published its Policy Recommendations to Address Structural Vulnerabilities from Asset Management Activities. The FSB published a consultation on this topic in June of 2016, and the January publication incorporates comments received from over 50 respondents including asset managers and their trade associations, banks, pension funds, other financial intermediaries, and individuals. These policy recommendations are part of the FSB’s larger effort launched in 2015 to understand and address potential financial stability risks from structural vulnerabilities associated with the rapidly growing global asset management industry. The recommendations are designed to provide authorities and asset management entities with the tools and data to effectively detect and address the identified risks.
Fed President Sees Rebound in Inflation and Modest Wage Growth
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, and he also suggested the Fed was planning to raise interest rates once more and begin reducing some bond holdings this year.
Risk Management Still at the Heart of Financial Regulation
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 institutions.
Fed Nominee Favors Regulatory Refinement and Transparency
At his July 27, 2017 confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, Randal Quarles testified that if confirmed he would advocate not for a rollback, but a reexamination of post-crisis reforms. He also advocated for better transparency on the part of regulators, and promised to approach the position with an open mind and in cooperation with the members of the Committee.
There is No Room for Complacency
In a July 12, 2017 address before the Paris Europlace International Financial Forum, François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Banque de France, outlined what he sees is necessary to complete the work of financial regulatory reform. Noting that resilience of the global financial system has significantly improved in eight years as a result of sweeping regulatory changes, de Galhau urged regulators and central bankers not to be complacent.
Regulatory Actions Drive Lasting Change
In his first address as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Jay Clayton reaffirmed his dedication to the Commission’s guiding principles and historic approach to regulation. At the same time, however, Chairman Clayton said he sees areas where the SEC’s regulations need to evolve to “reflect the realities of our capital markets.” One of these realities is that implementing regulatory change has costs, and over time cumulative regulation and the associated costs can drive behavior that has dramatic effects on the market. One example of such a driver of behavior, according to Chairman Clayton, is public company disclosure. This ever-expanding body of regulation brings a robust transparency to the markets. Clayton fears, though, that some of these disclosure requirements have strayed from their core purpose.