WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The chairman of the derivatives regulator made a questionable call when he chose to distance himself from probing the demise of futures broker MF Global, the agency’s internal watchdog said in a report released on Tuesday.

The findings by the inspector general of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Roy Lavik, were part of a broader report into whether the agency made any missteps into how it regulated MF Global.

WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) – Large energy companies look
set to slip through the maze of new rules for derivatives
trading, a group of U.S. senators said, urging regulators to
tighten oversight to cover all the market.

As of this year, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading
Commission (CFTC) subjects companies trading more than $8
billion in swaps to tough oversight unless they do so to hedge
price swings in their day-to-day business.

WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) – Big banks won key concessions
in the battle over who dominates the $630 trillion derivatives
markets as the top U.S. regulator adopted watered-down rules to
bring swaps onto exchange-like trading platforms.

The rules constitute a compromise that critics say means
supervisors have fewer tools in hand to rein in the opaque
derivatives trading between two parties that was among the
causes of the 2007-2009 credit meltdown.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Big banks are set to gain key concessions as the top U.S. derivatives regulator meets to vote on watered-down rules for swap trading that will chip away at Wall Street’s dominance of the $630 trillion market.

The rules will allow banks to continue to negotiate deals over the phone, a practice critics say is hard to monitor, and lower the number of quotes investors need to get before entering a swap to move away from bilateral trading.

WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) – The top U.S. derivatives
regulator unveiled rules for swaps trading that could break open
Wall Street’s dominance of the $630 trillion market, yet contain
important concessions to the industry.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is writing a
host of new rules based on lessons learned from the 2007-09
financial crisis, which highlighted the opacity of derivatives
and triggered a regulatory crackdown.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Friday that the shadow banking system continued to pose a threat to financial stability, and that bank funding markets might still not be able to cope with a major default.

In a wide-ranging speech explaining the Fed’s role in monitoring the stability of the banking system, Bernanke also said the central bank was closely monitoring asset markets for signs of excessive risk taking.

WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) – The top U.S. derivatives
regulator will discuss next week keenly awaited rules for swaps
trading that have the potential to weaken Wall Street’s dominant
position in the $650 trillion market.

The design of so-called Swap Execution Facilities, or SEFs,
is the last remaining building block in the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission’s overhaul of the derivatives market after
the 2007-09 credit meltdown.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top U.S. derivatives regulator will discuss next week keenly awaited rules for swaps trading that have the potential to weaken Wall Street’s dominant position in the $650 trillion market.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said it would hold a public meeting on May 16 to consider the rules for so-called Swap Execution Facilities (SEFs), newly designed platforms to trade swaps.

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) – A bipartisan group of 12
senators is seeking to exempt non-financial companies from new
rules to make banking safer, breathing new life into efforts to
reduce the scope of the Dodd-Frank overhaul of Wall Street.

The plans are squarely at odds with a warning from Treasury
Secretary Jack Lew, who urged the Republican-controlled House of
Representatives this week not to make any changes to the broad
law drawn up after the 2007-09 credit meltdown.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top U.S. derivatives regulator is considering whether the Bitcoin virtual currency should be subject to its rules, a top official at the agency said.

Bart Chilton, one of five commissioners at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said he had asked staff to explore whether consumers needed more protection from any mishaps with Bitcoin, whose value collapsed last month.