Financial Regulatory Forum

By Emmanuel Olaoye

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) - The U.S. Treasury Department will move ahead after the Nov. 6 U.S. national elections to issue its plan for exempting foreign exchange swaps, a banking industry source said. A senior government official said a decision on the issue was expected by year end, after international standards setters complete work on derivatives margin requirements.

The Treasury plan, which was proposed in April 2011, would exempt instruments such as foreign exchange swaps and forward contracts from new rules affecting dealers in the $650 trillion over-the-counter derivatives market.  (more…)

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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By David Lawder
WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department is considering ways to provide support through its bailout program to community development loan funds, a senior Treasury official said on Friday.
Gene Sperling, counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, said loan fund support could be developed as an extension to efforts unveiled this week to provide more capital to small banks and other community lenders through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

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   WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury’s pay czar on Thursday slashed overall pay by more than half for top earners at seven companies that received massive taxpayer bailouts, and ordered that most of their salaries be paid in the form of long-term company stock. Kenneth Feinberg, charged with approving or renegotiating pay contracts for the 25 highest-paid employees at the seven banks and automakers, said their cash compensation for 2009 would drop by more than 90 percent compared to 2008.

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WASHINGTON, Oct 19 (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury and other federal agencies will work with state and local governments in the coming weeks to determine the size of a new lending program for state and local housing finance agencies, a senior Treasury official said on Monday. (more…)

By Karen Pierog and Steve Eder
CHICAGO/NEW YORK, Sept 30 (Reuters) – The Obama administration’s pay czar joked Wednesday that he might have to move to Pluto to escape the fallout from his first batch of compensation decisions, which are expected in October.

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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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WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Sept 21 (Reuters) – Insurer American International Group Inc’s once-desperate financial state has started to stabilize, a government agency said on Monday, as an influential lawmaker said he would look at easing the terms of the insurer’s federal bailout once more.

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WASHINGTON, Aug 24 (Reuters) – The Obama administration will not use the U.S. majority-ownership stake in General Motors Corp. to influence the automaker’s choice of a buyer for its Opel operations in Europe, an administration official said on Monday. The official, asked whether the U.S. Treasury’s autos task force would weigh in on the issue or leave it up to GM’s management and board, said the administration was available to consult with the German government on the Opel issue, but would not get involved in GM’s decision.

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WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) – The Obama administration is resisting calls to get involved with ensuring that credit ratings are reliable and said on Wednesday this would force investors to rely even more on the ratings. (more…)