“The banks may now press to hold onto investments in some of their funds until 2022, since Dodd-Frank envisions an extra five-year extension for funds that are “illiquid,” the financial term for something that is hard to sell quickly.” “Consumer advocates are disappointed with the delay until 2017. They said that they did not accept […]
“The Volcker rule ensures that financial institutions don’t engage in something called proprietary trading, which is when a bank trades for its own benefit as opposed to for the benefit of its customers. Banks were supposed to comply with the Volcker rule by July 21, 2014. Last year, when banking watchdogs finalized the rule, the […]
“On Friday, the Federal Reserve delayed by two years compliance with the Volcker rule, the prohibition on banks’ proprietary trading—deals made to profit the bank instead of their clients. The postponement removes a key argument of those people who dismissed Congress’ Christmas gift last week to Wall Street, the elimination of Dodd-Frank Section 716.” “Section […]
President and CEO Dennis Kelleher, of Better Markets, on derivatives and international implications of the swaps push out provision in the CRomnibus spending bill. CJOB 680 – Greg Mackling – Dec. 17th, 2014 Listen here!
“The Federal Reserve extended by two years the time that big banks have to comply with a new rule that requires them to dispose of investments in hedge funds, private equity firms and other risky operations.” “The provision is part of the so-called Volcker Rule, embedded in the 2010 Dodd-Frank banking reform law and designed […]
“Christmas came early for Wall Street this year. The Federal Reserve on Thursday granted banks an extra year to comply with a key provision of the Volcker Rule, a move that gives financial lobbyists more time to kill the new regulation before it goes into effect. “The Volcker Rule is a key element of the […]
Washington, D.C., December 18, 2014 – Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, made the following statement today on the Federal Reserve Board’s latest extension for Wall Street’s biggest banks to comply with the financial reform law: “The refusal or inability of Wall Street’s biggest too big to fail banks to comply with the financial reform law is […]
“Section 716 of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act requires that some derivative transactions be “pushed-out” from those part of banks that have deposit insurance (run by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) and other forms of backstop (provided by the Federal Reserve). This is a sensible provision that, if properly implemented, would help keep our financial […]
“As Washington was betraying regular Americans in favor of big banks, Elizabeth Warren took to the Senate floor last week to ask, “Who does Congress work for?” She probably should have included President Obama in her question. “Warren (D., Mass.) was talking about a bank-authored spending bill amendment that constituted one of the most […]
MSNBC The Reid Report: Showdown Mounts Over CRomnibus Bill All eyes are on the Senate after the House passed the $1.1 trillion spending bill. Joy Reid discusses the situation with Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Dennis Kelleher, president of the pro-regulation group Better Markets. Watch the segment here. PBS Newshour: Is the 2015 spending bill a gift […]
“Congress is poised to enact the first significant rollback of the sweeping 2010 overhaul of financial regulations by including in a government spending bill a provision that eases bank trading of complex derivatives. “The provision sparked controversy as lawmakers prepared to vote on the $1.1-trillion package that must pass before a Thursday night deadline to […]
“At the heart of the impasse in Congress over a must-pass spending bill is a provision involving the sorts of high-risk investments that ignited the 2008 financial crisis. “The dispute occurred after Republicans inserted into the bill a provision to relax the regulation of investments known as derivatives. Democrats, led by their House leader, Nancy […]
“Congress has agreed to use federal deposit insurance, which was designed to protect the savings accounts of consumers, to cover risky trading by the nation’s biggest banks. “In a small provision in the budget bill, Congress agreed to allow banks to house their trading of swaps and derivatives alongside customer deposits, which are insured by […]
Washington, D.C., December 10, 2014 – Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, made the following statement today on the repeal of a key Dodd Frank financial reform provision in the “CRomnibus” budget agreement: “The sneaky, midnight repeal of a key provision of the Dodd Frank financial reform law in the budget agreement is […]
“The budget crunch at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission helped force the agency’s hand in reaching settlements with banks over the attempted manipulation of foreign currency exchange rates, but experts say it’s far from clear what the regulator gave up to quickly close the cases. “On the surface, the agency scored a big victory […]
“The U.S. Justice Department is conducting its own criminal investigation of foreign-exchange rate setting. And the Federal Reserve confirmed Wednesday it has a probe underway in coordination with Justice and other agencies. Additional penalties are possible. “Criminal charges against individual bank executives couldn’t come soon enough for some consumer advocates and critics of the financial […]
“Tourists wouldn’t notice it: Any manipulation of foreign currency exchange rates might add a fraction of a cent in paying for a meal at a Parisian bistro or booking a tour at the Great Wall of China. “But multiply that by $5 trillion — the amount that trades every day on the massive foreign currency […]
Washington, D.C., November 12, 2014 – Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, an independent nonprofit organization that promotes the public interest in the financial markets, issued the following statement today: “The breadth, brazenness, scope and duration of the global conspiracy to manipulate the foreign exchange markets are staggering. Yet, the global too-big-to-fail banks […]
By Irina Leonova, Banking Specialist at Better Markets Watching the “public part” of the October 6th FSOC meeting was … painful. Regrettably, as we have said before, FSOC meetings make the Kremlin look open by comparison. That’s unfortunate because it’s a disservice to the American people and a wasted opportunity for policy makers. FSOC members should […]
WASHINGTON—Global regulators are preparing to impose new restrictions on banks, asset managers and others who use swaps to help hedge risks and speculate on market moves. The Federal Reserve and banking authorities around the world are developing new rules that would prevent banks from entering into swaps agreements with certain customers unless their contracts include […]
“Six years ago, the $700 trillion derivatives market helped turn Lehman Brothers’ collapse into a full-blown global financial crisis. “But this weekend, regulators and large banks expect to agree on a change to derivatives that is intended to contain the damage caused by the crash of a large bank, several people briefed on the negotiations said. […]
Listen to Better Markets CEO Dennis Kelleher on BBC File on 4 discuss the manipulation of the massive foreign exchange market. Full clip available here.
Washington, D.C., September 16, 2014 – Today, a federal court in Washington, D.C. dealt a serious blow to Wall Street’s derivatives dealers’ relentless campaign to defeat financial reform. With one small exception, the Court firmly rejected the plaintiffs’ challenges to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) cross-border guidance and rules on derivatives transactions overseas, said Better […]
Washington, D.C., September 15, 2014 – Adding insult to America’s economic injury, the Republican House Leadership, as early as this evening, could hand a gift to Wall Street by voting on yet another deregulation bill on the 6th Anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, said Better Markets. Today’s vote will likely include several controversial […]
Federal regulators announced on Wednesday an overhaul of a murky Wall Street market that gained infamy during the financial crisis of 2008. The Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, as well as three other agencies, proposed a rule that would apply to over-the-counter derivatives, the financial instruments that banks and other financial entities […]
By the time the Securities and Exchange Commission finalized a rule last month to regulate derivatives under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, the big banks that dominate the multitrillion-dollar market had already figured out how to game it. This is not a tale, however, of how wily banks always find a way around the rules. […]
Washington, D.C., June 25, 2014 – In response to today’s vote by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to adopt the first in a series of rules around the issue of “cross-border” derivatives trading, Better Markets President and CEO Dennis Kelleher issued the following statement: “The incomplete cross-border rules adopted today by the SEC […]
Washington, D.C., June 19, 2014 – Better Markets released the attached Cross Border Fact Sheet today detailing Wall Street’s latest tactic to avoid important financial reforms designed to protect U.S. taxpayers from having to bail out Wall Street again. The tactic is called “de-guaranteeing” foreign affiliates, which is just a fancy word for Wall Street’s […]
Wall Street’s latest gambit to avoid sensible and modest financial reform rules is to pretend that they are not guaranteeing their overseas affiliates. This is great for Wall Street, which gets around the rules, but bad for everyone else who will have to pay the bill when their gambling blows up and causes another crash. […]
Washington, D.C., June 19, 2014 –Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, an independent nonprofit organization that promotes the public interest in the financial markets, made the following statement about the upcoming vote on H.R. 4413, the CFTC Reauthorization bill in the House of Representatives: “Wall Street’s political allies in the House of Representatives have […]
“European Union antitrust regulators charged Europe’s biggest bank HSBC, U.S. peer JPMorgan and France’s Credit Agricole on Tuesday with rigging financial benchmarks linked to the euro, exposing them to potential fines. “The European Commission also said it would charge broker ICAP soon for suspected manipulation of the yen Libor financial benchmark. “U.S. and European regulators […]
“Executives from some of the biggest U.S. financial firms said a slump in trading that has hammered bank results for more than a year is likely to continue to weigh on profits. “Large investors are retreating from the market, big trades are rare and price swings are shrinking, executives told investors at an industry conference […]
“The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission isn’t keeping up with high-speed derivatives trading and needs to invest in tools to detect manipulative and disruptive practices, said Scott O’Malia, a Republican commissioner. “The CFTC lacks the technology necessary to routinely oversee the millions of messages traders send every day to futures exchanges operated by CME Group Inc. and IntercontinentalExchange […]
“Global regulators are holding closed-door meetings with financial industry representatives to discuss derivatives rules that banks have sought to curb, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. “Regulators including the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission met in Washington yesterday to discuss the cross-border reach of derivatives rules, according to […]
“As regulators tighten rules on the U.S. swaps market, large American banks are maneuvering to take some of the business overseas. “Banks including Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley are changing the terms of some swap agreements made by their offshore units so they don’t get caught by U.S. regulations, according to people […]
“(Reuters) – Barclays (BARC.L) will quit most of its commodities trading businesses, joining a broader retreat by banks as profits tumble in the face of tougher regulation.” “The British bank’s exit means three of the top five banks in commodities have significantly reduced or shuttered their natural resource trading arms since last summer, with profits hit by regulatory demands for lenders to hold […]
“The financial services industry this week lobbed hundreds of pages of comment letters the Federal Reserve’s way to convince the central bank that it should continue to allow the world’s largest banks to trade and invest in oil, electricity and other physical commodities. “On the flip side, critics of banks’ role in these markets told […]
“The Volcker Rule doesn’t go into effect until 2015, but that hasn’t stopped big bankers and their supporters in Washington from trying to undermine it. “The latest fight involves another complex Wall Street creation, a financial instrument known as a collateralized loan obligation. Big banks want to be allowed to own them but regulators say […]
“Part of London’s lucrative over-the-counter swaps market is set to come under direct US regulatory oversight as dealers in the UK capital wrestle with meeting tighter rules for overseas swaps dealers accessing US markets. “ICAP, the world’s largest interdealer broker, will next month begin trading US dollar-denominated swaps from its London home on a new […]
“The British bank Barclays will announce on Tuesday that it plans to exit large parts of its commodities business, a move that comes as large investment banks have struggled with heightened regulatory scrutiny and falling profits, a person briefed on the bank’s plans said. “Barclays is among the top five banks in the commodities business […]
“(Reuters) – Wall Street banks have mounted a massive legal defense of their physicalcommodities activities, in a last-ditch effort to convince regulators that chartering oil tankers and owning power plants pose no risk to the financial system.” “In a 54-page memo drafted by four leading law U.S. law firms and commissioned by six major financial industry groups, they […]
(Reuters) – “Just over a week ago, CME Group Inc suffered the worst-ever trading outage on the world’s most important agricultural markets, plunging electronic screens into darkness and sending dozens of traders scrambling for Chicago’s famous but now often deserted trading “pits”.” “It seemed like an impossible task: replace the seamless efficiency of an electronic trading screen with […]
“A group of traders has sued CME Group Inc, accusing the operator of the world’s largest derivatives exchange of selling market data to high frequency traders, cheating other investors who lacked such access. “In a complaint filed on Friday in the U.S. District Court in Chicago, William Braman, Mark Mendelson and John Simms said CME […]
“Advocates for tougher rules on Wall Street are crying foul about legislation that is rapidly moving through Congress, arguing it would unravel key protections put in place after the financial crisis. “Legislation reauthorizing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) surged out of the House Agriculture Committee with strong backing from both parties, and could be […]
“(Reuters) – Barclays (BARC.L) has settled its second lawsuit in a week that alleged the British bank had mis-sold products that were tied to Libor benchmark interest rates.” “Barclays said on Friday it had reached a compromise in its proceedings with Portugueseconstruction and property firm Domingos Da Silva Teixeira in London’s Commercial Court.” “Following discussions between […]
“(Reuters) – A former JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) executive has won the right to challenge criticisms by Britain’s financial watchdog of his actions in connection with the “London Whale” derivatives trading scandal.” “The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) infringed the rights of Achilles Macris by failing to give him the right of reply to its report into […]
“The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission would face limits on its ability to impose rules on derivatives traded overseas and on manufacturers that use swaps to hedge business risks under bipartisan congressional legislation curbing the scope of the agency’s powers. “Republicans and Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee, which has jurisdiction over the CFTC, introduced […]
“A Federal Reserve announcement on Monday that would relax Volcker Rule conformance periods still leaves banks holding collateralized loan obligation (CLO) debt in a quandary. “The Federal Reserve intends to give banks until July 2017, a two-year extension, to divest or restructure their CLO debt falling under Volcker’s “ownership interest” umbrella. Such debt typically back […]
“ U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) today announced that he will place a hold on the nomination of Sharon Bowen, acting chairman of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), to the be Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Bowen’s nomination was passed out of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee this morning and will now come […]
WASHINGTON—“A Senate panel on Tuesday approved President Barack Obama‘s three nominees to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, advancing their nominations to the full Senate.” “The panel acted by voice vote on the nominations of Timothy Massad, a senior Treasury Department official tapped to head the five-member CFTC, and Sharon Bowen and J. Christopher Giancarlo for two commissioner […]
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