Financial Regulatory Forum

    MIAMI, Aug 12 (Reuters) – The U.S. government and Swiss bank UBS AG <UBSN.VX><UBS.N> have initialled agreements to settle their tax evasion dispute, a U.S. government attorney said on Wednesday, ending weeks of tough negotiations between the two sides.
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    WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) – The U.S. Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposed on Tuesday creating protections for retail investors, highlighting concerns that have grown over the last year as individual buyers have come to dominate a larger share of the bond market.
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   By Charles Abbott and Rachelle Younglai
   WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) – The Obama administration’s plan to regulate the $450 trillion private swaps market would give the two main market regulators a share of the duties by splitting oversight of credit default swaps, which were responsible for exacerbating the financial crisis.
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   By David Lawder and Kevin Drawbaugh
   WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) – Toxic assets on the books of banks still threaten the financial system, 10 months after the government targeted hundreds of billions of dollars to attack the problem, Congress’ bailout watchdog said on Tuesday.
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Swiss in fresh push for UBS tax settlement
   By Lisa Jucca
   ZURICH, Aug 11 (Reuters) – Switzerland is striving to settle a long-running tax evasion dispute between UBS and the U.S. government that challenges Swiss banking secrecy before a key pre-trial conference on Wednesday.
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   By Jonathan Stempel
   NEW YORK, Aug 10 (Reuters) – A federal judge refused to approve a proposed settlement between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Bank of America Corp <BAC.N> over the payment of bonuses to Merrill Lynch & Co employees, saying he was unable to determine if it was fair to the public.
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   By Paritosh Bansal
   NEW YORK, Aug 10 (Reuters) – Lone Star Funds joined other big private equity names in opposing proposed U.S. rules for investments in failed banks, as a designated period for public comment on the draft regulations comes to an end on Monday.
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   By David Lawder
   WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department should consider expanding programs to cleanse troubled assets from bank balance sheets if current efforts fail to restart markets or if economic conditions worsen, a U.S. bailout watchdog panel said on Tuesday. 
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   WASHINGTON, July 20 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday that Wall Street banks had failed to show remorse for the “wild risks” that triggered a financial meltdown and helped to push the United States into recession.
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   By Emma Thomasson
   ZURICH, July 19 (Reuters) – The Swiss foreign minister is due to meet U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on July 31, just days before a deadline to reach a settlement in a damaging U.S. tax case against UBS.
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