Instead of providing a realistic assessment of the solvency and capital position of individual banks, today’s release highlights the failures and politicization of the stress testing program and its inability to ensure capital adequacy.
Five regulators finalized changes to the Volcker Rule dramatically weakening limits on bank investments in hedge funds, private equity funds, and other “external funds”. The vote was partisan, with not a single Democratic appointee voting for the change.
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund and Demand Progress Education Fund released a joint report, making the case for policymakers to take action to prevent the Geneva-based Libra project from evading regulation and going into effect as proposed.
Nineteen organizations and individuals that advocate on behalf of consumers, workers, investors and retirees have called on the Department of Labor to withdraw its controversial policy statement opening the door to private equity investments in 401(k) plans.
The SEC has released new guidance on corporate disclosures in light of COVID, which includes a recommendation that companies disclose more information about health and safety policies. We see this as a positive first step toward requiring the disclosures requested in a letter sent to the SEC last week by Americans for Financial Reform and nearly 100 other organizations.
The problems the SEC identified include fund managers’ failure to make full and fair disclosure of conflicts of interest, charging improper fees, and failure to implement policies to prevent staff from trading on material non-public information. In other words, the SEC’s examinations have shown that private equity and hedge fund managers are consistently engaged in self-dealing and overcharging investors, like pension funds that provide for the retirement security of millions of Americans.