WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2020

The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), who’s voting members comprise the heads of the top financial regulatory agencies including, but not limited to the SEC, CFTC, FDIC, CFPB, OCC and Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, approved 12 recommendations in their December 2019 Annual Report:

​

Congressional Hearings:

U.S. House Committee on Financial Services

• 1/14/2020 | The full Committee will convene for a hearing entitled, “On the Brink of Homelessness: How the Affordable Housing Crisis and the Gentrification of America Is Leaving Families Vulnerable.”
• 1/14/2020 | The Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions will convene for a hearing entitled, “The Community Reinvestment Act: Reviewing Who Wins and Who Loses with Comptroller Otting’s Proposal.”
• 1/15/2020 | The Subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy will convene for a hearing entitled, “A Persistent and Evolving Threat: An Examination of the Financing of Domestic Terrorism and Extremism.”
• 1/15/2020 | The Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets will convene for a hearing entitled, “Overseeing the Standard Setters: An Examination of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.”
• 1/29/2020 | The full Committee will convene for a hearing entitled, “The Community Reinvestment Act: Is the OCC Undermining the Law’s Purpose and Intent?”
• 1/30/2020 | The full Committee will convene for a hearing entitled, “Rent-A-Bank Schemes and New Debt Traps: Assessing Efforts to Evade State Consumer Protections and Interest Rate Caps.”
• 1/30/2020 | The Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance will convene for a hearing entitled, “Examining the Availability of Insurance for Nonprofits.”
• 1/31/2020 | The Task Force on Financial Technology will convene for a hearing entitled, “Is Cash Still King? Reviewing the Rise of Mobile Payments.”

U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

• TBA

Regulatory Agency Events:

Federal Reserve

• 1/3/2020 | Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee, December 10-11, 2019
• 1/8/2020 | Governor Lael Brainard: Modernizing the Community Reinvestment Act
• 1/9/2020 | Vice Chair Richard H. Clarida speech

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

• 1/8/2020 | Open Meeting
• 1/14/2020 | Asset Management Advisory Committee
• 1/24/2020 | Investor Advisory Committee Telephonic Meeting

CFTC

• TBA

FDIC

• TBA

OCC

• TBA

​International:

• 1/17/2020 | International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva delivers remarks on “Financial Services and Inequality” (Peterson Institute, Washington, DC)

A LOOK BACK AT 2019

These days the years seem to pass by so quickly, so we thought we’d highlight some of the key events that took place in 2019. 

January 2019 

• John (Jack) Bogle, founder and longtime chairman of the Vanguard Group, dies.

February 2019

• Federal Reserve Board finalizes set of changes that will increase the transparency of its stress testing program for the nation’s largest and most complex banks.
  • Better Markets’ response: “Fed Risks Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory.”

March 2019 

• Federal Reserve Board announces it will limit the use of the “qualitative objection” in its Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR) exercise, effective for the 2019 cycle.
  • ​Better Markets’ response: “Fed’s Stress Test Changes Shortchange the Public and Markets.”
• CFTC’s Deregulatory Actions Create a Vast “De Maximus” Swap Dealer Exemption That is Illegal and Dangerous (expansive interpretation of the de minimis exemption). 

April 2019

• Better Markets Files an Amicus Brief with the Fourth Circuit: Interactive Brokers LLC v. Rohit Saroop; Preya Saroop; and George Sofis
• Better Markets Issues a SPECIAL REPORT: “Wall Street’s Six Biggest Bailed-Out Banks: Their RAP Sheets & Their Ongoing Crime Spree.” 
  • ​Better Markets Issues an Accompanying Fact Sheet: “Rap Sheet Rundown.”
• Better Markets Issues a SPECIAL REPORT: “Goldman Sachs’ 1MDB “Four Monkeys” Defense and CEO Solomon’s Golden Opportunity.”
  • ​Better Markets Issues an Accompanying Fact Sheet.

May 2019 

• Better Markets Files an Amicus Brief with the Eighth Circuit: Roderick Ford v. TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.
• SEC Proposes a Rollback of the Auditor Attestation Requirement in Sarbanes Oxley.
• Better Markets Issues a Fact Sheet in Advance of the SEC’s Upcoming Vote on It’s So-Called “Best Interest” Proposed Rule.

June 2019

• SEC Adopts Rules and Interpretations to Enhance Protections and Preserve Choice for Retail Investors in Their Relationships with Financial Professionals.
  • ​Better Markets Response: “SEC’s So-Called Best Interest Rule is a Fraud That Protects Industry Profits, Not Investors.”
• Dennis Kelleher Testifies Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry in full Committee hearing entitled, “The State of the Derivatives Market and Perspectives for CFTC Reauthorization.”
• Better Markets featured in Inside Philanthropy | Up Against Wall Street: How This Little-Known Hedge Funder Backs Financial Reform, by Philip Rojc. 

July 2019 

• Dennis Kelleher Sits on a Morning Panel titled, “Stress Tests as a Policy Tool” as part of a Stress Testing Conference Hosted By The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
• Thomas Hoenig, Former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and Former Vice Chairman of the FDIC, Publishes an Op-ed on Real-Time Payments Titled, “A Monopoly Not in the Public Interest.”
• Better Markets Files an Amicus Brief with the D.C. Circuit: New York Stock Exchange LLC, et al., v. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC attempts to protect investors and market integrity by exposing exchange pricing practices).
• The Office of Financial Research (OFR), an Independent Bureau Within the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury, Issued A Suspect “Staff Working Paper” on the Volcker Rule. 

August 2019

• New Volcker Rule Changes: 
  • ​The FDIC Announces It Will Vote Soon to Finalize A Set of Proposed Revisions to the Volcker Rule.
  • Revised Volcker Rule Finalized by the FDIC.
  • Better Markets Issues a Fact Sheet on the New Volcker Rule Detailing Substantial Changes and Correcting Misinformation.
• U.S. Supreme Court Issues a Decision In Lorenzo v. SEC That is a Big Win For Investors, Retirees, and Main Street.
• SEC Votes to Limit Shareholders’ Rights and Access to Information.

September 2019 

• Continued New Volcker Rule Changes: 
  • ​Better Markets Issues a Statement Regarding CFTC’s Upcoming Meeting to Finalize a Substantially Weakened Volcker Rule on the Anniversary of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers.
  • Better Markets Comments on the CFTC’s Approval of the Revised and Weakened Volcker Rule.
• On Anniversary of Lehman Brothers’ Collapse, Better Markets Releases Presentation on the State of Financial Reform.
• Nomination of Eugene Scalia to Head the Department of Labor (DOL): 
  • ​Better Markets Issues a SPECIAL REPORT: “Eugene Scalia, Trump’s Nominee to be Secretary of the Department of Labor has Been Wall Street’s Best Friend and a One-Man Financial Stability Wrecking Ball.”
  • Better Markets Issues an Accompanying Fact Sheet.
• U.S. House Committee on Financial Services Holds a Hearing with All Five SEC Commissioners (first time all five appeared since 2007) entitled, “Oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission: Wall Street’s Cop on the Beat.”
• Seven States Stand Up for Investors By Challenging the SEC’s Anti-Investor Investment Advice Rule.
• SEC Adopts New “Test-the-Waters” Rule. 
• Better Markets Unveils Its “2020 Voter Education Guide: Scorecard Reviews Candidates’ Positions on Key Economic and Financial Reform Issues.” 
• The Treasury Repurchase Agreement (Repo) Market Experienced a Brief Period of Unexpectedly High Volatility as Short-term Borrowers Faced a Decline in the Supply of Cash Being Provided to Fund Treasury Repos.
  • ​Bloomberg: The Repo Market’s a Mess. (What’s the Repo Market?)
    • Note: Tim P. Clark, Distinguished Senior Banking Advisor at Better Markets, Published a December 2019 Op-Ed Piece in Bloomberg Titled, “Don’t Use Repo Volatility as a Reason to Roll Back Bank Regulations.”
• Better Markets Comments on CFPB’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) Implementing the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
• Better Markets Issues a Statement on the SEC’s Concept Release on Harmonization of Securities Offering Exemptions.
• Five Questions Every Democratic Candidate Should Be Asked During the Debates:
  • Twitter Snippet
  • Dennis Kelleher Op-Ed in The Hill: “The economic answers voters want from the presidential candidates.”

October 2019

• Tim P. Clark, The Former Deputy Director of the Division for Supervision and Regulation for the Federal Reserve Board, Joins Better Markets.
• Better Markets Issues a SPECIAL REPORT, “An Update on Supreme Court Cases Involving the Financial and Economic Security and Prosperity of the American People: A Report Card on the 2018-2019 Term and a Look Ahead to 2019-2020.”
  • ​Better Markets Issues an Accompanying Fact Sheet. 
• Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) Becomes a Hot Topic at SEC and In The News:
  • ​Better Markets Issues a Statement In Advance of the Senate Banking Committee’s Hearing on “Oversight of the Status of the Consolidated Audit Trail.”
  • Better Markets Issues a Statement In Response to the SEC’s Proposed Amendments to the National Market System Plan Governing the Consolidated Audit Trail.
• Bank Regulators Give Wall Street a $40 Billion Deregulatory Gift While Significantly Increasing Derivatives Risks to the Financial System and Taxpayers (propose to eliminate initial margin requirements on interaffiliate derivatives).
• Better Markets Issues a Response to Reports That Government Ethics Rules Won’t Prevent Eugene Scalia (the new DOL Secretary) from Participating in the Department of Labor’s Re-write of a Key Investor Protection Rule (Fiduciary Duty rule).

November 2019 

• ​Six Senators Sign Letter to FINRA Urging Amendments to Proposed Rule 4111 (for Firms Who Hire High-Risk Brokers).

December 2019

• Paul Volcker, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Dies At The Age of 92.
  • ​Statement of Dennis Kelleher on the Death of Paul A. Volcker.
  • Paul Volcker to Better Markets: “Carry on the Battle!”
• Allegations Emerge That Dozens of Fraudulent or Misleading Comment Letters Were Submitted To and Relied Upon By the SEC In Connection With Two Important Rule Proposals.
• SEC Proposes to Update [Its] Accredited Investor Definition to Increase Access to Investments.
  • ​Better Markets’ Response: “SEC’s Actions Unwisely Expose Main Street Investors to High-Risk Investment Choices and Unscrupulous Financial Professionals.”
• Dennis Kelleher Sits on a Panel Following a Speech by FDIC Chairwoman Jelena McWilliams at a Brookings Institution Event entitled, “Brokered Deposits in the Fintech Age.”
• CFTC Takes Bipartisan Action to Limit Dealer Domination of the Derivatives Markets (proposed elimination of post-name trade give-up).
• First Debate of the 2020 DNC Presidential Race to Dedicate a Full Segment to the Economy:
  • ​Watch Full Debate.
  • In Brief, What the Candidates Had to Say About the Economy During the Debate (Bloomberg). 
• Inside Philanthropy’s “Philanthropy Awards, 2019”: ​Michael Masters of Better Markets wins the “Class Traitor Award.”