Financial Regulatory Forum

WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (Reuters) – U.S. securities regulators will consider short selling curbs in “coming weeks,” Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro said on Friday.

The SEC has proposed a number of ways to curb short-selling, or investors making bearish bets on stocks.

Those proposals include market-wide curbs and so-called circuit breakers that would impose a restriction on short-selling if a stock fell by a certain percentage.

Schapiro also said the SEC would consider proposals to consolidate some aspects of market surveillance, which is currently shared by in-house teams at trading venues and broker-dealer watchdog the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

“It is difficult to connect the dots and ferret out wrongdoing as trading activity frequently occurs across various markets and each market is only able to readily see trading activity conducted in their own market,” Schapiro said at a Practising Law Institute conference in Washington. (Reporting by Rachelle Younglai, editing by Gerald E. McCormick) ((rachelle.younglai@thomsonreuters.com; +1 202 898 8411)) ((Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra: visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com

By Jonathan Spicer
NEW YORK, Oct 20 (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Charles Schumer on Tuesday jumped in to the debate over anonymous trading venues known as dark pools, calling for tough new regulations a day before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission meets to consider new rules.  Schumer, among the most vocal of lawmakers pressing for market structure reform, urged in a letter to SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro that the regulator adopt some of the most robust measures now on the table, and called for a new market-wide monitor.

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WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) – A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ban on so-called flash orders is “imminent,” a senior lawmaker said on Tuesday — just before the agency itself said it was drawing up plans to ban the controversial services offered by some stock exchanges.  Democratic U.S. Senator Charles Schumer said SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro had personally assured him that the agency planned to ban the practice of “flash trading,” which gives advance knowledge of stock orders to certain traders. (more…)

WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) – Disagreement within the Obama administration over reshaping U.S. financial regulation flared on Tuesday, with top bank regulators defending their turf against key parts of a broad bank supervision overhaul plan. (more…)

    WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) – The Securities and Exchange Commission will consider ways to increase disclosure of information about U.S. municipal bonds at a meeting on Wednesday, its chairman told Congress on Tuesday.
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WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) – Credit rating agencies, such as Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s, are now being targeted by a squad of examiners set up by the Securities and Exchange Commission and are subject to ‘special’ examinations.

The heightened supervision was ordered by SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, who has also directed staff to consider bringing in new regulations, particularly to prevent companies from shopping around for favorable ratings. (more…)