Financial Regulatory Forum

   By Kevin Drawbaugh
WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (Reuters) – The Obama administration made gains on Tuesday in its push for U.S. financial reform, unveiling a landmark bill to tackle systemic risk in the economy and winning congressional committee approval for a measure to expose hedge funds to more government scrutiny.The systemic risk bill would grant vast powers to a new systemic risk regulatory council, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp to monitor and address risks to economic stability posed by shaky financial holding companies.

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By Kevin Drawbaugh and Rachelle Younglai
WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (Reuters) – U.S. regulators would be able to peer into the secretive world of hedge funds and private equity funds under a bill passed by a key congressional committee on Tuesday.
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WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (Reuters) – A key U.S. congressional committee was expected on Tuesday to release draft legislation agreed with the Obama administration that will restrict future bailouts and create a new protocol for government handling of giant financial firms that get into trouble, a senior congressional source told Reuters.

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WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Financial firms that could pose a risk to the economy will not all be named at once under Obama administration plans to tighten bank and capital market regulations, a congressional aide said on Tuesday.

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

By John Kemp
LONDON, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Prominent banks and some business groups have warned policymakers their efforts to force standardised over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives transactions onto futures exchanges and into the clearing system will drive trading offshore and raise the cost of genuine risk-hedging for non-financial firms.
But scaremongering by the finance industry’s well-paid lobbyists about “unintended consequences” should not deter legislators from pressing ahead with a worthwhile reform.

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    By Huw Jones
   BASEL, Switzerland, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Global securities regulators have agreed to focus more on the risks products and markets pose to the broader financial system as they reassess their role in light of the credit crunch. (more…)

By Kevin Drawbaugh
WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) – The Obama administration’s plan to form a “systemic risk” regulator for the economy looked more likely to win congressional approval after lawmakers noted a change in tone by the Federal Reserve on Thursday.

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By Alister Bull
WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) – The head of the World Bank on Monday sounded a cautionary note about granting greater regulatory power to the U.S. Federal Reserve and said the dollar’s future will “depend heavily on U.S. choices.”

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By John O’Donnell

BRUSSELS, Sept 23 (Reuters) – The European Union unveiled its blueprint for an overhaul of the way banks and financial markets are policed, a central plank in new rules designed to prevent a repeat of the global economic crisis. It plans to create a banking super-watchdog, with power to overrule countries such as Britain, and a pan-European supervisor that would warn of early signs of crisis.

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WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in testimony prepared for delivery on Wednesday that the United States would not identify in advance financial firms that it views as systemically important.
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