“The Libor bid-rigging scandal is poised to more than double the losses suffered by U.S. states and localities that bought $500 billion in interest-rate swaps before the financial crisis,” according to Bloomberg News (Oct. 9). “Manipulation of the London interbank offered rate cost issuers in the $3.7 trillion municipal-bond market at least $6 billion, according
In a telephone press conference co-hosted by Americans for Financial Reform, investor advocates and the president of a state securities regulators’ group sharply criticized the SEC’s proposed rule to permit the mass marketing of private stock offerings. The four speakers were united in asking the SEC to scrap the proposal, “saying it is fatally flawed
Advisor One covered AFR’s strong support for a retail investor fiduciary duty in a recent Cato Institute event.
The Bond Buyer devoted an article to AFR and affiliated groups letter of opposition to HR 2827, which would roll back Dodd-Frank protections for taxpayers in municipal finance. An excerpt: Seven groups, led by Americans for Financial Reform, urged lawmakers to vote “no” to H.R. 2827, a bill sponsored by Rep. Robert Dold, D-Ill., which
More than 100 members of Congress have communicated with the Federal Reserve and other regulators about the yet-to-be-finalized Volcker Rule, which is supposed to restrain banks from making risky trades or investing in hedge funds. “The Fed, like all regulators, provides feedback to lawmakers,” Ben Protess writes in the Sep. 20 New York Times. The
Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi sees the potential for more Jefferson County-style disasters in H.R. 2827, a “compromise” that sharply reduces the ethical responsibilities of those who sell complex financial products to municipalities.