News
A Call for Academics to Join Policy Debates Over Securities Regulations
In a recent address before the Center for the Study of Financial Regulation at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, SEC Commissioner Michael S. Piwowar urged academics to engage more actively in policy debates over securities regulation. Commissioner Piwowar is particularly interested in “data-driven” input from academics in connection with potential reforms to the structure of the U.S. securities markets. The Commission recently finalized the composition of a Market Structure Advisory Committee that will focus on the structure and operations of the U.S. equities markets and will function as a forum and resource for reviewing specific, clearly articulated initiatives or rule proposals. Piwowar sees the Committee’s work as a prime opportunity for academics studying the securities markets to provide real input and make their voices heard.
Basel Banking Supervision Committee Priorities for 2015-2016
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has announced its planned areas of focus for 2015 and 2016 as it continues to propose and finalize the remaining elements of its Basel III regulatory reform agenda. The Committee will continue to pursue its post-crisis reform agenda, but will now look toward restoring confidence in capital ratios, ensuring consistency across the regulatory framework, monitoring and assessing the implementation of the framework, and improving the overall effectiveness of supervision.
A Hard Push Against the FSOC’s Non-Bank SIFI Designation
Over the objections many, including asset managers, insurance companies, and even legislators and other regulators, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) has pushed ahead with its mandate to identify risks to financial stability that could arise from the material financial distress or failure, or ongoing activities, of nonbank financial companies (Non-bank SIFIs).
SEC Announces February 19 Proxy Roundtable
Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it will hold a February 19 public roundtable discussion on improving the proxy voting process. The roundtable, which will be held at the SEC’s Washington, DC headquarters, will focus on universal proxy ballots and retail participation in the proxy process.
SEC Adopts New Rules Governing Security-Based Swaps Transactions
The SEC has issued final rules governing security-based swap data repositories (SDRs) prescribing reporting to regulators and setting public disclosure requirements for security-based swap transaction data. These new rules implement mandates under Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act requiring the SEC and CFTC to regulate swaps markets. The final rules approved by the Commission on January 14, 2015 “provide a powerful framework for trade reporting and the public dissemination of information that addresses blind spots exposed by the financial crisis.”
Swap Dealers Sued as Monopolists
On November 25, 2015, the Chicago Public School Teachers’ Pension and Retirement Fund and other institutional investors filed a class action lawsuit in federal court alleging that ten of the world’s largest investment banks conspired to rig the lucrative interest rate swaps market.
Jumping into Dark Pools and Heading off Disruptive Trading
Wednesday, November 18, 2015, was a busy day for the Securities and Exchange Commission. That morning the Commission convened to propose new rules to enhance the transparency of alternative trading systems, including “dark pools.” Later that day, Chairman Mary Jo White testified before Congress about the Commission’s plans to combat disruptive trading, to require registration “of certain active proprietary traders and improvements of firms’ risk management of trading algorithms,” as well as plans for rules addressing pre-trade pricing transparency in fixed income markets. The very next Wednesday, in what appears to be a coordinated approach to the SEC’s, the CFTC proposed its own set of rules designed to take on automated trading and disruptions that can be caused by rapid algorithmic trading.
A Cloud of Doubts About the Net Stable Funding Ratio
In October 2014, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) adopted final standards for the “net stable funding ratio” (NSFR), the last plank in the Basel III banking reforms. The NSFR was first proposed in 2009, and elicited much concern from the industry regarding its potential effects on financial market functioning and the economy; so much so that BIS reproposed a new version in January 2014. The final NSFR retains the structure of the January 2014 consultative proposal, but with changes giving national regulators more scope to exempt particular assets from the general funding requirement if that asset is linked to a particular funding source, and including rules for funding short-term interbank loans, derivatives trades, and assets posted as initial margin on derivatives contracts.
Will Securities Lending Indemnification Be Regulated Into Oblivion?
Borrower default indemnification, sometimes referred to as a “securities replacement guarantee,” is fairly common in the securities lending industry. Under the typical arrangement, should a borrower of a security fail to return it at the end of the loan, the lending agent agrees to purchase a replacement security for the lender using the proceeds of the collateral posted by the borrower for the loan. The indemnity is applicable if the price of the replacement security exceeds the value of the collateral. In such a case, the lending agent agrees to make up the difference.
For many years, banks have provided borrower default indemnification as part of their securities lending services, which has given beneficial owners additional assurance as to the safety of their lending programs, and has allowed pension funds and others for whom such indemnity is legally required to participate in the securities lending market as well.
Dodd-Frank Implementation: Are We At the End of the Beginning, or the Beginning of the End?
With the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act having just celebrated its fourth birthday, where exactly are we in the the reform of our seemingly ever-evolving regulatory framework? In a recent paper, Dan Ryan, Chairman of the Financial Services Regulatory Practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP takes a look at this very question to help us determine what is imminent, what is delayed, and what remains in limbo with regard to Dodd-Frank implementation.