Financial Regulatory Forum

By Rachelle Younglai
WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) – U.S. securities regulators are eyeing new restrictions on the multi-trillion dollar securities lending market used by short-sellers after the credit crisis revealed the industry was “anything but low risk.”

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By Lilla Zuill and Grant McCool
WESTPORT, Conn./NEW YORK, Sept 28 (Reuters) – Joseph Cassano has come home to face the music.
The former AIG executive closely associated with one of the most sensational collapses in corporate history, recently slipped back into the United States.

Under intensifying investigations by the FBI and other agencies, the 54-year-old Cassano had until recently been living in London.

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By Charles Abbott and Rachelle Younglai
WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) – The U.S. securities regulator warned Congress on Tuesday that parts of the $450 trillion private swaps market could still fall through regulatory cracks under the Obama administration’s financial reform plan.

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By Karey Wutkowski

WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – U.S. hedge funds will likely have to provide “pretty detailed reporting” to regulators in the future and some public disclosure of their activities, the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Friday. Mary Schapiro said her agency is already exploring what the requirements might look like — and how to balance competitiveness concerns — as Congress debates whether to give the SEC more power. (more…)

WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Securities regulators from the United States and Britain plan to identify a common set of data to collect from hedge funds, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday.

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By Rachelle Younglai
WASHINGTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may force banks to share data used to rate bonds with all credit rating agencies, reducing the risk that investors will buy securities with inflated ratings, two people familiar with the regulator’s thinking said.

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By Jonathan Stempel and Grant McCool
NEW YORK, Sept 14 (Reuters) – A federal judge rejected Bank of America Corp’s $33 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over Merrill Lynch & Co bonuses as a contrivance, and New York’s top legal officer prepared to sue senior bank executives.

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By Jonathan Spicer
NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Reuters) – In obscure corners of the U.S. stock market — where “flash orders,” “dark pools” and other controversial practices thrive — regulators are trying to shine a light to guard against unfair dealing.

But a crackdown by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, sought in recent months by some top lawmakers in Washington, won’t come quickly and may not be as comprehensive as some desire.

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Sept 11 (Reuters) – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 20 companies have raised objections to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed limits on the kinds of debt money-market mutual funds can buy, the Wall Street Journal said, citing a chamber letter to the SEC.

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By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, Sept 9 (Reuters) – Bank of America Corp and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission made a third and perhaps final push to convince a federal judge to approve a settlement over the alleged misleading disclosure of Merrill Lynch & Co bonuses, saying executives should not be charged.

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