Franken Pursues Tighter Oversight of Rating Agencies Ben Protess (Dealbook/NYT) September 1, 2011 “The Dodd-Frank Act cracked down on the credit rating agencies, the firms that awarded rosy ratings to bonds backed by junky mortgages, but some lawmakers and consumer advocates contend that the regulatory
3 Questions on Financial Stability Simon Johnson (Herald Tribune – FL) September 1, 2011 “The Dodd-Frank financial legislation of 2010 created a Financial Stability Oversight Council, tasked with taking an integrated view of risks in and around the financial sector in the United States. Known
Big banks squawk about Basel Committee reforms Ira Teinowitz (The Deal) August 30, 2011 “Big bank holding companies and financial groups are criticizing the Basel Committee’s attempt to toughen capital standards for banks under Basel III, as well as a requirement that global systemically important banks
Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) hosted a conference call with reporters and bloggers on Thursday, September 1, 2011 to discuss problems in the oversight of the major credit rating agencies and ways to achieve better ratings agency accountability under the Dodd Frank Act.
Click here to view this week’s highlights and lowlights in Wall Street Reform – August 27, 2011 – September 2, 2011.
Read our letter cosigned by over 60 national, state, and local groups supporting Richard Cordray’s confirmation to head the CFPB here.
AFR submitted a comment to the Basel Committee, which sets international standards for minimum levels of bank equity capital, concerning the levels of required capital for the largest world banks (so called Global Systemically Important Banks, or G-SIBs). AFR believes the proposed Basel minimum capital levels for these banks are far too low, and the Committee’s own analysis implies much higher capital levels should be set for these entities.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed business conduct rules for security-based swap dealers and major security-based participants that AFR and CFA have said will not be effective in ending abusive practices and do not do enough to bring transparency to this market. Of particular concern are serious shortcomings in the provisions designed to provide enhanced protections for special entities, such as municipalities and pension funds, shortcomings that all but guarantee the rules will not deliver the intended enhanced protections. In a comment letter filed with the SEC yesterday, AFR and CFA urged the agency to comprehensively revise the rules to address weaknesses in virtually every provision of the rules and make them at least as strong as those proposed earlier this year by the CFTC.
Click here to view this week’s highlights and lowlights in Wall Street Reform – August 20, 2011 – August 26, 2011.
Read our comment letter to the SEC here.