Financial speculation on commodities like oil and food is driving up consumer prices from the gas pump to the grocery store. To bring it under control, we need workable position limits. But the verdict is in – the CFTC’s proposal needs to be strengthened to do the job.

The bank-funded study on the supposed economic costs of the state AGs proposed settlement with mortgage servicers is a patchwork of unsupported assumptions all designed to lead to one conclusion – that the big servicers who funded the study ought to get a free ride.

 
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April 12th, 2011
Elizabeth M. Murphy
Secretary
Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F St., NE
Washington, DC 20549
Mr. David A. Stawick
Secretary
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20581
 
RE: File # S7-05-11, Reporting by …

This NPR implements provisions of the Basel III agreement relevant to the use of internal risk modeling to set risk-based capital levels for financial institutions. As a general matter, AFR is highly skeptical of the use of internal bank Value at Risk (VAR) models for setting capital requirements.

This continuing resolution does not give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission all of the resources they need, but we are very pleased that the President and Congress fought to keep Wall Street reform on track and resisted efforts to starve them of the funds necessary to police the rules of the financial market.

Read the pdf here.
April 13th, 2011
Dear Representative,
The record of lawbreaking and abuse by the largest banks and servicers at every stage of the mortgage origination, securitization, servicing and foreclosure process is breathtaking, and the damage …