Industry Group Presses CFTC and SEC on New Swap Rules

A group of asset managers, hedge funds and proprietary managers issued an open letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, calling for the agencies to move quickly to implement Dodd-Frank swap-clearing requirements by the end of the year. The...

Can the SEC Reign In Money-Market Mutual Funds?

As the Securities and Exchange Commission struggles to complete new rules for money-market mutual funds, officials have begun to look into the possibility that the Financial Stability Oversight Council, created by the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul, could act if the SEC fails to do so. Unlike banks, money...

Proposed Consolidated Audit Trail Could Impact High-Frequency Traders

An SEC official said Thursday that the commission is close to proposing new rules for a consolidated audit trail of activity across national stock exchanges, calling it “a top priority.” The proposed changes are expected to hit high-frequency trading firms hardest. That’s because costs of the...

Basel Committee Proposes Trading Book Changes

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on Thursday proposed new ways to calculate trading risks, the next stage in their ongoing effort to keep banks stable in stormy markets. Sources with knowledge of the committee’s plans said it was too early to say if the changes would significantly increase...

Final Draft of Volcker Rule Expected Soon

A new regulation intended to curb high-risk Wall Street trading might be implemented sooner than many banks had hoped. The Volcker Rule, named for the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, would ban banks from engaging in proprietary trading.  Despite lobbyists’ efforts to delay the rule, sources with...

CFTC says large banks will test client fund protection

On Tuesday the CFTC said that large U.S. banks are in the process of testing measures that will protect client funds posted to back derivatives trades. The measures will reduce the risk of client loss, such as those suffered during the MF Global collapse. In the case of MF Global, clients were left with...

Court rejects request to block access to MF Global insurance funds

A federal judge rejected a request by Sapere Wealth Management LLC and two other plaintiffs to block former and current MF Global Holdings Ltd officials, including former Chief Executive Jon Corzine, from tapping as much as $30 million of insurance money to defend lawsuits over the...

CFTC to iron out international swaps data sharing

Next week the CFTC will issue guidance on how to make it easier for international regulators to share swaps data and examine global risks. Commissioner Scott O’Malia said that the guidance is expected to become available as early as Monday. It will exempt foreign regulators from signing indemnification...

Senators push for finalized Volcker Rule

22 senators wrote a letter to five federal agencies Thursday, calling for regulators to adopt a final Volcker rule free from loopholes and Wall Street concessions. “You have no doubt heard, as we have, from those who would like us to forget the causes of the financial crisis and forget the causes of...

CFTC will consider requiring smaller banks to clear swaps

The CFTC is poised to consider a “end-user rule,” which may come up for a final vote next month, that may require smaller banks to clear swaps and comply with high collateral standards under the Dodd-Frank Act. Banks with as much as $50 billion in assets are pushing for exemption from the...