By Erik Krusch
(Westlaw Business) – Between bank capital raises and media coverage, the Basel III era may be upon us. After months of anticipation, and more than a little dread on the part of banks, it is true that the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (Basel Committee) has finalized the Basel III bank capital ratios and other measures. But not so fast. With history as guide, it’s apparent that there is a real gap between Basel-driven standards and actual implementation.
Sept 14 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is expected soon to pick the director of a new U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that will regulate mortgages, credit cards and other financial goods and services.
Congress created the bureau in response to widespread deception and abuse of borrowers during the credit bubble that burst two years ago, triggering a global financial crisis.
Here is a profile of the new watchdog unit, called for under Wall Street reforms that were written into law in July.
By Huw Jones
LONDON, Sept 12 (Reuters) – The global “Basel III” deal on bank capital standards was reached at lightning speed by usually glacial regulators — substantive negotiations took about a year, compared to a decade for the current Basel II rules.
But implementing the new standards consistently over the lengthy phase-in period will be a headache for national regulators, and determine whether Basel III succeeds better than its predecessor in reducing bank sector risk.
* The Basel III rules are much tougher than Basel II, which failed to ensure banks held enough capital to withstand the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
By Samantha Pearson
SAO PAULO, Sept 10 (Reuters) – Brazil is locked in a bitter struggle with investors over the value of its currency — a battle it is unlikely to win without major casualties.
The government is increasingly desperate to halt the appreciation of the real, which has more than doubled in value against the dollar since President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office in 2003 and is now, by one measure, the world’s most overvalued major currency.
The currency’s rise is in part a reflection of Lula’s success in transforming Brazil into a darling of foreign investors. Yet what was once seen as a blessing has become a curse, and Finance Minister Guido Mantega warned Thursday that the government will take whatever measures are necessary to keep the real from further damaging exporters.
By Basil Katz
NEW YORK, Sept 10 (Reuters) – As New York state prepares to elect its next attorney general, an office made nationally prominent for cracking down on Wall Street before the financial crisis erupted, five Democrats will face off in the primary on Tuesday to select who will run against the sole Republican.
Despite the powerful post’s “Sheriff of Wall Street” notoriety, voters are apathetic about the Democratic primary race. An August poll showed 81 percent of registered Democrats said they were undecided or not going to vote.
Following are possible scenarios as New Yorkers go the polls for the Sept. 14 primary and then the Nov. 2 election.
By Mike Dolan
LONDON, Sept 8 (Reuters) – The case for a tax on global financial transactions may have been perversely boosted by the relative success of foreign exchange markets through the past three years of world banking turmoil.
As markets in credit, interbank and securities lending malfunctioned and stock markets lurched violently, currency markets, for the most part, appeared to have a “good crisis”.
By Dave Clarke
WASHINGTON, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Prospects are dimming that a new U.S. consumer agency head will be in place this year, prompting fears that what was envisioned by supporters as a powerful watchdog could get off to a rocky start.
A dwindling legislative calendar and Republican momentum going into the November elections could lead to a protracted confirmation process, especially if the White House nominates Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren, who Wall Street has blasted for her attacks on banking practices.
By Roberta Rampton
WASHINGTON, Sept 7 (Reuters) – The fight over who gets to be a swaps execution facility, or SEF, is shaping up to be one of the most contentious aspects for implementing the swaps portion of the new Wall Street reform law.
Here are some of the issues:
By David Fogarty, Climate Change Correspondent, Asia
SINGAPORE, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Australia is now much more likely to introduce a price on planet-warming carbon pollution after support by independents and Greens returned the Labor Party to office on Tuesday.
Independents Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor backed Labor on Tuesday, with climate change among their top issues, ending a 17-day wait after an inconclusive Aug. 21 election left neither major party with a majority in the lower house of parliament.
By Sugita Katyal
NEW DELHI, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Will India’s government succeed in passing key pro-market bills that have been in limbo for years? Not in the near future, say analysts.
With state elections around the corner, the Congress-led government may have lost a political window to push through crucial economic reforms because of fears of a backlash to sensitive decisions from voters already reeling from high prices.
