Financial Regulatory Forum

   By Ann Saphir
   BOCA RATON, Fla., March 11 (Reuters) -   Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage-funding giants that were seized by the government in September 2008, will start using central counterparty clearing this year in a move that could mark a seismic shift in the $400 trillion global swaps market. (more…)

   By Karey Wutkowski
   WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) – U.S. bank regulators  extended a policy on Thursday that protects securitized assets in the event that a bank fails and is seized by regulators. (more…)

   By Ann Saphir and Jonathan Spicer
   BOCA RATON, Florida, March 10 (Reuters) – Craig Donohue, head of the world’s biggest futures exchange operator, said on Wednesday the growing number of months that regulators and politicians are devoting to revamping financial markets is a positive sign — not something to grow anxious over. (more…)

   By Kevin Drawbaugh and Rachelle Younglai
   WASHINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve could retain oversight of large bank holding companies under a scaled-back regulatory reform plan being considered by key senators, but important questions remained unanswered, lobbyists said on Sunday. (more…)

    By Ann Saphir
   MINNEAPOLIS, March 2 (Reuters) – Supervisory powers over banks are critical for the Federal Reserve to do its job, Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota said on Tuesday. (more…)

    WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) – The top Republican on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee said on Tuesday that the powers granted to a new financial government consumer watchdog are more important than its location in the federal bureaucracy. (more…)

    WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) – The Internal Revenue Service has agreed to work more closely with the Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate the U.S. municipal bond market, the IRS said on Tuesday, adding the two federal agencies had signed memorandum of understanding. (more…)

   By Kevin Drawbaugh and Rachelle Younglai
   WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Marathon weekend negotiations in the U.S Senate on financial reform failed to result in a bipartisan breakthrough, with disagreement over how much power to give a consumer watchdog office still a key hurdle. (more…)

Dunne sees up to 400 bank failures this year

   By Karey Wutkowski
   WASHINGTON, Feb 25 (Reuters) – About 1,000 U.S. banks could fail as a result of the recent banking crisis that saddled financial institutions with large portfolios of bad loans, a leading investment banking executive said on Thursday. (more…)

   By Kevin Drawbaugh
   WASHINGTON, Feb 25 (Reuters) – A bipartisan agreement on financial regulation reform was close at hand on Thursday in the U.S. Senate, with lawmakers working to overcome a key obstacle — creating a new financial consumer watchdog. (more…)