By Stuart Gittleman, Compliance Complete
NEW YORK, May 20 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) - Corruption, cyber threats and transnational organized crime – and the money laundering that greases the wheels of illicit commerce – are high on the list of law enforcement priorities, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. (more…)
By Bora Yagiz
NEW YORK, Aug. 31 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) - The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s proposed rules earlier this month on mortgage servicing are a step in the right direction in its efforts to uproot the malpractices that were once prevalent in the subprime mortgage market. The proposals suffer from a few shortcomings, however, not the least because the Bureau, with its “one-size-fits-all” approach, seems to have ignored the nuances between the different players within the servicing industry. (more…)
By Rachel Wolcott
NEW YORK/LONDON, Dec. 22 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) - Considering the cost of the financial crisis to the American taxpayer — anywhere between $700 billion and $12.8 trillion depending on who you talk to — the proposed capital rules the Federal Reserve published yesterday seem pretty lenient, compare to those mooted by some European countries.
However, it is a certainty that the same U.S. bank CEOs who have been so vociferous in their criticism of any increase in capital requirements, will continue their efforts to pare down the amount of capital they are required to hold. (more…)
By Nick Paraskeva
Nov. 1 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) - The collapse of MF Global Holdings is the first major U.S. financial bankruptcy since new Dodd-Frank insolvency laws ended the doctrine of “too big to fail,” as well as being the first U.S. failure attributable to the Euro crisis. While the collapse is expected to be handled under pre-Dodd Frank bankruptcy laws and under the Securities Investor Protection Corp., it may signal that regulators are prepared to take earlier action when they see uncovered financial risks.
The default follows agreement last week by EU heads of state, which required banks to increase capital by 106 billion euros to restore confidence. This is based on a higher capital ratio of 9 percent of highest quality capital, after a buffer for the mark-down of sovereign debt value of periphery EU States to current market values. Banks and private sector creditors to Greece accepted 50 percent voluntary write-down, as part of the package. (more…)
By Susannah Hammond
LONDON/NEW YORK , Sept. 9 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) – Almost three years on from the fall of Lehman Brothers and the widespread public bail-out of financial services the world is looking grim. In the white heat of the crisis itself jurisdictions, policymakers and governments moved together to resolve the worst of the immediate issues and bought global financial services time to heal. While some recovery and mending of balance sheets has certainly taken place, global financial services continue to suffer at the hands of divergent policymakers, international recessions and sovereign debt crises.
The medium-term aftermath of the financial crisis may well turn out to be more damaging to financial services than the crisis itself. Quite how severe the current state of affairs has become was highlighted by the new head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, who stated that “there remains a road to recovery, yet, we do not have the luxury of time”. The risks to any recovery are increased by “a growing sense that policymakers do not have the conviction, or are simply not willing, to take the decisions that are needed”. (more…)
By Helen H. Chan
HONG KONG, Aug. 26 (Business Law Currents) – New capital adequacy rules from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) are prompting banks to hit up investors in Hong Kong and Shanghai’s capital markets. Part of the Basel III implementation process, the rules will require Chinese lenders to shore up additional capital to protect against credit risks.
Under the new rules, which are currently open to public review, systemically important banks in China will be subject to a minimum capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 11.5 percent; other banking institutions will be required to adhere to a minimum CAR of 10.5 percent.
By Daisy Ku and Rachel Armstrong
HONG KONG, Nov 29 (Reuters) – The lack of a unified Asian voice in the Group of 20 leading economies means the United States and Europe are driving the overhaul of global financial regulation with several of the new rules posing significant challenges for emerging markets, regulators said in a regional summit on Monday.
The G20 has endorsed a series of major reforms to banking and financial market regulation, which the five Asian members of the group and Financial Stability Board members Hong Kong and Singapore have signed up to.
But Asian regulators say a number of these rules pose significant difficulties for their markets, while others don’t address the way the crisis hit their economies. This, they say, is partly due to the fact that the United States and Europe find it easier to arrive at a common approach to regulatory change.
By Jane Merriman
LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) – Contingent capital got a boost on Monday as Swiss regulators said these bonds, which convert to equity when banks are in trouble, could help bolster the capital base of Credit Suisse and UBS.
The Swiss initiative marks a step forward for the asset class, which has failed to find a big fan base among investors since UK bank Lloyds and Dutch-based Rabobank issued contingent-style bonds in November 2009 and March this year.
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.
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.
