ANALYSIS-Carry trades fly onto regulators’ radar screens

Turner says carry trades 'economically valueless'

    By Mike Dolan    LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) – As governments seek to root out and smother what they see as excessively risky and questionable financial market activity, the world of so-called currency “carry trades” has found its way onto their radar. (more…)

INTERVIEW – Proxy access for all, U.S. SEC Commissioner says

By Rachelle Younglai

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – All publicly traded companies should be required to give shareholders a way to influence the composition of their corporate boards, a top U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission official said on Tuesday.

Luis Aguilar, one of five officials who decides on federal securities rules, said companies should not be given the option to opt out of potential rules being considered by his agency.

“It’s a slippery slope,” SEC Commissioner Aguilar told Reuters in an interview. Aguilar said giving companies such an option could lead to other exemptions.

European governments agree to help Greece – source

Seeking Alpha

By Matthias Sobolewski

BERLIN, Feb 9 (Reuters) – European governments have agreed in principle to help heavily indebted Greece, a senior German coalition source said on Tuesday, in what would be the first rescue of a euro zone member in the currency’s 11-year history.

“The decision on help for Greece has been taken in principle within the euro zone,” said a source in the German coalition government who has knowledge of the negotiations.

US Stock exchange heads take aim at ‘Volcker rule’

By Jonathan Spicer

NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) – The heads of the top U.S. stock exchanges have poured cold water on the Obama administration’s plan to bar banks from proprietary trading.

The chief executive of NYSE Euronext said on Tuesday the president’s plan falls short of targeting what caused the financial crisis, while his counterpart at Nasdaq OMX group Inc, the day before, said the plan would probably have to be changed.

Obama last month surprised Wall Street with the ambitious proposal to limit risky trading by banks. Dubbed the ‘Volcker rule’ after Paul Volcker, the White House economics adviser, it would bar banks from proprietary trading, or placing bets on markets with their own money.

Pennsylvania seeks 5 percent-plus tax on shale gas output

Prospecting for taxes

By Jon Hurdle

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Energy companies drilling for natural gas in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale would have to pay a wellhead tax of more than 5 percent under a proposal unveiled on Tuesday by Governor Ed Rendell.

Rendell wants to charge drillers 5 percent of the value of gas at the wellhead plus 4.7 cents per 1,000 cubic feet of gas taken from the ground, starting July 1. The plan would raise $160.7 million in the first year and $1.8 billion over five years.

EU parliament backs creation of bank crisis fund

By John O’Donnell

STRASBOURG, France, Feb 9 (Reuters) – The European Parliament is set to back a proposal that would force banks to pay into an emergency fund designed to help cope with future financial crises, a document seen by Reuters shows.

Earlier this year, Sweden’s finance minister called on European counterparts to follow U.S. President Barack Obama’s lead with a bank tax to recoup the cost of propping up the industry — an idea that Germany is now considering.

The European Parliament, a powerful institution that will write any new bank tax into EU law, is set to give the idea a thumbs up, according to senior members of the assembly.

UK’s top financial regulator quits

Summer departure

By Kirstin Ridley and Clara Ferreira-Marques

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Britain’s top financial regulator announced he was to step down, surprising markets and casting doubt over the future of the Financial Services Authority and an overhaul of the sector.

Hector Sants, a former investment banker well-respected in the industry, will leave the FSA just after a general election widely expected to leave the opposition Conservatives in power.

Few post-crisis restrictions in finance trade-WTO

By Jonathan Lynn

GENEVA, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Few measures have been taken to curb trade in financial services in the wake of the crisis although the volumes have dropped sharply, according to a study by the World Trade Organization.

But measures to support troubled institutions will need to be unwound carefully to avoid distorting competition, the WTO said in an restricted report to members, dated Feb. 3, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.

“The financial crisis does not seem to have prompted a widespread introduction of trade restrictions in financial services,” said the report by the WTO secretariat, prepared at the request of members.

ECB says can’t bail out Greece, sees contagion risk

By Boris Groendahl and Terhi Kinnunen

VIENNA/HELSINKI, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Greece must get its own house in order itself as the European Central Bank cannot bail it out, two ECB policymakers reiterated on Tuesday.

“Greece, being a euro country, is under the regime of euro regulations, and so the main policy approach is of course that they have to solve the problems themselves,” ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said in an interview.

“The ECB have a clear mandate … we have a clear no-bailout clause,” Nowotny said in an interview with FT Alphaville, a blog published by the Financial Times newspaper.

India central bank increases securitisation disclosure requirements

MUMBAI, Feb 8 (Reuters) – The Indian central bank on Monday increased disclosure requirements for banks who sell securitised assets, to increase transparency for investors under the enhanced Basel II framework.

The Reserve Bank of India said banks needed to clearly state what role they had played in the securitisation of an asset, including whether they were an originator, investor, provider of credit enhancement or liquidity provider while securitising assets.

Following is the link to the notification: http://r.reuters.com/cuv38h

“In light of the wide range of risks arising from securitisation activities, which can be compounded by rapid innovation in securitisation techniques and instruments, minimum capital requirements calculated under Pillar 1 are often insufficient,” RBI said.