Financial Regulatory Forum

By Karey Wutkowski
WASHINGTON, Sept 9 (Reuters) – Decreasing the number of U.S. agencies that police banks is an idea gaining momentum in Congress, even though bolder efforts to rip up the overall financial regulatory system and start fresh have stalled.

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WASHINGTON, Sept 9 (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd will remain chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and not take over the health committee after the death of his friend, Senator Edward Kennedy, a Senate aide said on Wednesday.

By staying at banking, Dodd will prevent potential further delays in an already bogged-down push by Democrats to tighten regulation of banks and capital markets in response to the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the worst in decades.

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By Steve Eder and Ed Stoddard
NEW YORK/EULESS, Texas, Sept 8 (Reuters) – All you have to do to feel the outrage over the continuing flow of bonuses on Wall Street is to take a walk down Main Street.

Reuters reporters spoke to people in half a dozen towns and cities across the country at the end of last week — and while the survey was far from scientific, it left no doubt many people are upset bankers are still pulling in big bonuses while many people struggle to make ends meet.

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JEDDAH, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Group of 20 developed countries must stick to banking oversight regulations agreed in the wake of the global financial crisis to avoid a future credit crunch, Saudi Arabia’s central bank governor told the local press agency, citing concerns over backsliding.

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By Patricia Zengerle and Ross Colvin
OAK BLUFFS, Mass., Aug 24 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama will reappoint Ben Bernanke for a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve on Tuesday, a senior administration official said on Monday.

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WASHINGTON, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Following are highlights from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s prepared speech to be delivered at the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank’s conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

BERNANKE ON CURRENT STATE OF ECONOMY
“After contracting sharply over the past year, economic activity appears to be leveling out, both in the United States and abroad, and the prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good. … The economic recovery is likely to be relatively slow at first, with unemployment declining only gradually from high levels.”
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WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Aug 19 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it will trim the margins for most securities banks pledge to obtain loans from its discount window and Term Auction Facility.

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– John Kemp is a Reuters columnist. The views expressed are his own –

By John Kemp
LONDON, Aug 5 (Reuters) – While the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)’s current review of energy markets is likely to result in only modest changes to the formal regulatory framework, centred on tougher position limits and enhanced reporting, the political landscape for commodity trading has changed profoundly.

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BRUSSELS, Aug 5 (Reuters) – The European Commission approved on Wednesday a short-term export-credit insurance scheme adopted by the German government to limit the impact of the financial crisis on export companies. (more…)

By Grant McCool

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bonuses paid to executives at nine banks that received U.S. government bailout money in 2008 were greater than net income at some of the banks, the office of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday.

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