WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) – Elizabeth Warren went
before some of her sharpest critics on Wednesday to defend the
independent funding of the U.S. financial consumer watchdog
agency she is setting up for the Obama administration.

At a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event attended by scores of
financial industry lobbyists keen to rein in her agency, Warren
said she is a strong supporter of business competition and that
she believes she has that in common with the chamber.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A global push to damp down wild swings in oil and other commodity prices reached a pivotal point on Monday as big traders mounted their last attack on a U.S. plan to limit the role of speculators.

Many of the world’s biggest commodity market participants such as U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill Inc are resisting new rules that would cap how many futures and related swaps contracts any one company can control.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Elizabeth Warren, the Obama administration’s defender of financial consumers, will venture into the corporate lion’s den this week, along with Jamie Dimon, CEO of banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The two will be speakers at an event set for Wednesday at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the country’s largest business lobbying group, in its Corinthian-columned headquarters situated within view of the White House.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – It is raining money again on many top U.S. and EU bank executives, less than three years after taxpayers worldwide rescued the banking industry from the worst financial crisis in decades.

Government responses to this vary from country to country. Britain and to a lesser extent the rest of the EU are embracing pay curbs, while the United States is doing little.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – It is raining money again on many top U.S. and EU bank executives, less than three years after taxpayers worldwide rescued the banking industry from the worst financial crisis in decades.

Government responses to this vary from country to country. Britain and to a lesser extent the rest of the EU are embracing pay curbs, while the United States is doing little.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Not since Gary Gensler pinned on his badge as the $600-trillion (367 trillion pounds) swap market’s new sheriff has his law-and-order campaign seemed so uncertain.

Delays are setting in at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which he chairs, and at other U.S. regulators, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Not since Gary Gensler pinned on his badge as the $600-trillion swap market’s new sheriff has his law-and-order campaign seemed so uncertain.

Delays are setting in at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which he chairs, and among other U.S. regulators, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House is considering nominating Mark Wetjen, an aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, for a top job at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, The Financial Times reported on Friday.

Democrat Michael Dunn’s term as a CFTC commissioner ends in June. The time is crucial because the CFTC is trying to finalize more than 40 detailed regulations implementing 2010′s Dodd-Frank over-the-counter derivatives reforms.

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) – Congressional Republicans
hammered away at a U.S. consumer watchdog agency they have
opposed since its creation last year, criticizing its budget
autonomy and scope of authority at a hearing on Wednesday.

Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard Law School professor who is
leading the formation of the new agency, defended its mission
to protect consumers from predatory financial practices as
mandated under the Dodd-Frank reforms.

WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) – The first targeted
legislative challenges to 2010′s Dodd-Frank financial
regulation reforms are emerging in the U.S. Congress, with
nine senators introducing a bipartisan bill on Tuesday to
delay a proposed cap on debit card interchange fees.

The cap, proposed by the Federal Reserve as required under
Dodd-Frank, threatens the profits of card networks Visa (V.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)
and Mastercard (MA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), as well as big banks such as Citigroup
(C.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).