During an initial consultation period, the SEC received more than 20,000 letters, overwhelmingly in favor of the pay-ratio requirement. Since the Commission issued its proposed rule in September, more than 116,000 individuals and organizations, including Americans for Financial Reform, have submitted letters urging the SEC to stand firm.
“The OCC and FDIC got it right in standing up for borrowers who have been taken advantage of,” said Lisa Donner, AFR’s Executive Director. “Now it’s up to the Federal Reserve to follow the OCC’s and FDIC’s lead with the institutions it regulates.”
“In a brief advisory statement, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has closed a specious, lobbyist-concocted loophole in the regulation of the derivatives markets. By doing so, the Commission has reaffirmed one of the most important and hard-won victories of the Dodd-Frank Act.”
The House vote to approve this legislation, largely written by Citibank lobbyists, reminds us that Wall Street is still doing everything in its power to protect the status quo that caused the financial crisis… The good news is that 122 House members voted No this time. What started out as a backroom deal between bank lobbyists and legislators wound up being an uncomfortable vote for the dealmakers. That makes it much less likely that the Senate will act, and more likely that the swaps push out provision will finally be implemented.
“For too many years, dealers and advisors in the municipal market have felt free to give self-serving advice designed to generate more profits for them at the expense of their clients… Properly implemented, [today’s rule] should curtail the abuse and provide enormous benefits for taxpayers and investors.”
In the end, the Commission stood firm against industry resistance to a common-sense disclosure requirement. The SEC also correctly insisted that part-time and overseas workers be included in the calculation, consistent with the language and intent of the statute.
By eliminating an exemption for “performance-based” pay, this bill would cap the tax deductibility of executive compensation at $1 million, as a 1993 law only pretended to do.
“This legislation restores the division between commercial banking and financial market activities – a change that will make our financial system more secure and better able to support the real economy.”
“Without real built-in investor-protection standards, we are seriously concerned that this rule will open the door to mass marketing of hedge funds and other risky and often illiquid ‘private’ securities in a market where abuses are common and SEC oversight is very limited. Fraud and abuse are not good for investors; they’re not good for capital markets, either.”
In today’s global financial markets, risk is not bounded by geographic borders but instead flows to whatever entity is ultimately liable for a transaction. While the CFTC hasmoved forward in the face of intense industry pressure, its guidance leaves some doubt about a potential cross-border loophole.