AFR submitted a joint comment with Professor Michael Greenberger of the University of Maryland on Treasury proposal to exempt foreign exchange swaps and forwards from clearing and exchange trading requirements under Dodd-Frank. The letter pointed out that Treasury had not provided any evidence supporting its case that foreign exchange derivatives did not pose systemic risk, and in fact there is very strong evidence from the 2008 financial crisis and today that they do pose such risks.
AFR submitted a comment in response to the CFTC’s request for views on their overall proposed structure for regulating swaps and derivatives. The comment raised several issues concerning conflicts of interest in ownership and management of key areas of derivatives infrastructure, like clearinghouses and swaps data repositories. AFR also raised potential problems with definitions of “commercial risk” that could permit evasion of regulations.
AFR submitted a comment letter to the banking oversight agencies on proposed rules to change pay practices at big banks. The rules include a number of proposals, including mandatory deferral of some compensation, intended to ensure that Wall Street executives are financially accountable for the long-term consequences of their actions. The letter commended a number of positive steps taken in the proposal, but made the case that the deferral and oversight rules would have to be strengthened to fully address the problem.
AFR submitted a comment letter calling on the FSOC to change its proposed rules for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to better ensure the public’s access to information from financial regulators.
AFR submitted a comment letter on the FSOC’s rule establishing standards for the designation of Financial Market Utilities (FMUs). The letter generally agreed with the broad designation standards, but called on the FSOC to rapidly designate key existing FMUs for enhanced prudential oversight.
