LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) – Sophisticated forms of high-speed share trading have questionable value and may create risks for the market, Britain’s top financial regulator said on Thursday.

   By Kevin Drawbaugh and Karey Wutkowski
    WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) – The new financial reform bill introduced in the U.S. Senate will likely be approved at the committee level next week, but its shape could change substantially once it comes before the full Senate and winning Republican support comes into play, analysts said on Tuesday.

   BRUSSELS, March 17 (Reuters) – The European Commission will crack down on “naked” selling and speculation in the market for credit default swaps with proposed controls as soon as June, the EU’s financial markets chief said on Wednesday.

   March 15 (Reuters) – The Wachovia Bank unit of Wells Fargo & Co <WFC.N> is in talks with the U.S. Justice Department to settle complaints relating to the alleged failure in bank controls that enabled Mexican exchange houses to launder drug money, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.

   SHANGHAI, March 16 (Reuters) – China’s securities regulator is set to clear only stocks-related mutual funds to trade in the country’s first stock index futures, ordering them to trade for hedging rather than speculative purposes, according to draft rules published on Tuesday.

    BRUSSELS, March 16 (Reuters) – The derivatives market remains a “dark ocean” that needs more transparency but it was unclear if a ban on credit default swap trading would work in practice, a top U.S. regulator said on Tuesday.

    TAIPEI, March 16 (Reuters) – Taiwan’s top financial regulator formally announced on Tuesday guidelines on investments between local and Chinese banks and financial institutions after the government gave its approval.

   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.

   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.

   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.