WASHINGTON, D.C.—Cantrell Dumas, Director of Derivatives Policy, issued the following statement in connection with the filing of a comment letter in response to a proposed comparability order from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). “Granting this order would in effect outsource the protection of U.S. markets and taxpayers to Mexican authorities acting under a set of […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis M. Kelleher, President and CEO, issued the following statement in connection with the release of a report titled “U.S. Treasury Market Instability During Stress Requires Urgent Reforms.” This is the third report in Better Markets’ series on the shadow banking sector. “The U.S. Treasury markets have a long history as the most important […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Stephen Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist, issued the following statement in connection with the release of a fact sheet on bank mergers ahead of an OCC symposium at which Better Markets’ Tim Clark will participate in a panel addressing the effect of bank mergers on financial stability. “The dramatic increase in the largest, too-big-to-fail […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Stephen W. Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist for Better Markets, released the following statement in advance of tomorrow’s oral argument before the Tenth Circuit in an important market manipulation case, In re: Overstock Securities Litigation, No. 21-4126: “Our securities markets have proven to be remarkable engines of business growth and wealth generation for […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis M. Kelleher, President and CEO, issued the following statement in connection with a Better Markets fact sheet released ahead of a House Financial Services Committee hearing that will likely consider harmful changes to the Accredited Investor definition: “The Accredited Investor definition protects many investors from being ripped off in private markets where there […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis M. Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, released the following statement on Better Markets’ comments in response to the Federal Reserve’s draft Principles for Climate-Related Financial Risk Management for Large Financial Institutions: “We commend the Federal Reserve for joining the FDIC and OCC by issuing draft principles to examine climate-related financial risk […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Stephen Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist, issued the following statement on a joint letter from consumer protection advocates asking the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to strengthen its proposed Quality Control Standard for audit firms: “The PCAOB is responsible for making sure the auditing profession fulfills its duty as a critical […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Stephen Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist, released the following statement in connection with the release of a report entitled “The Securities And Exchange Commission: Regulation And Enforcement In 2022.” “The SEC is critical to maintaining the integrity, stability, and vitality of our securities markets, and those markets are critical to a thriving economy. […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis M. Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, released the following statement on the upcoming 5th anniversary on February 2, 2023 of the Federal Reserve imposing a cap on Wells Fargo’s asset growth: “It is now obvious that giant Wall Street banks like Wells Fargo are not only too-big-to-fail and too-big-to-manage, but also […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis M. Kelleher, President, and CEO of Better Markets, released the following statement in connection with the Federal Reserve’s decision to deny Custodia Bank’s application to become a member of the Federal Reserve System: “The unanimous decision today by the Federal Reserve (Fed) to deny Custodia Bank’s application to become a member of the […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Stephen Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist, issued the following statement upon the vote by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to propose a rule to implement Section 621 of the Dodd-Frank Act: “Better Markets welcomes this long-overdue proposal that will target some of the most outrageous abuses we saw leading up to the […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis M. Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, released the following statement in connection with the release of a report entitled “The SEC’s Excellent Record on Crypto: Regulation and Enforcement”: “The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been subject to withering and relentless criticism—often hypocritical—from the crypto industry and its many allies, […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis M. Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, released the following statement on the filing of Better Markets’ Comment Letter to the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on their advance notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the resolution-related resource requirements for Large Banking Organizations: “Effective resolution planning that includes ample readily available capital is […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Stephen Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist, issued the following statement on a joint petition sent to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) urging the agency to clarify its policies on credit rating agencies: “The fact is that powerful conflicts of interest continue to influence the credit rating agencies, as they seek […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Phillip Basil, Director of Banking Policy, issued the following statement in connection with the release of Better Markets’ Fact Sheet on FinTech, Crypto, the Banking Industry and Regulation. “The recent rapid and spectacular collapse of the crypto company FTX has clearly shown – again – the fiction and lawlessness of the crypto industry. […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO, issued the following statement regarding the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) recently released regulatory agenda: “The CFTC’s recently released fall 2022 regulatory agenda (available here) is virtually identical to its spring 2022 agenda (available here). Don’t be fooled because the fall agenda has fewer items than the spring […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Legal Director and Securities Specialist Stephen Hall issued the following statement on the filing of Better Markets’ Comment Letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in response to the agency’s reopening of the comment period for its proposed rule to modernize and improve disclosures on share repurchases, also known as stock buybacks: “The […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis Kelleher, Cofounder, President, and CEO, issued the following statement regarding a letter he sent to the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture expressing concerns with provisions in the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA): “The DCCPA, one of FTX’s and Sam Bankman-Fried’s top legislative priorities prior to their downfall, poses several serious concerns […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— In a Financial Times Op-Ed published today, Dennis M. Kelleher, Cofounder, President and CEO, provided an overview of U.S. regulatory agencies’ recent work, including the SEC’s efforts to protect investors and the CFTC’s failures. The full Op-Ed can be found below and online here: Where regulators could reform Wall Street in 2023 By Dennis Kelleher […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis M. Kelleher, Cofounder, President and CEO, issued the following statement following the release by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) of its Fall 2022 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions: “We applaud the CFPB and Director Chopra for setting an agenda that prioritizes relief for the millions of consumers subjected to […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis M. Kelleher, Cofounder, President and CEO, issued the following statement in connection with today’s release of Better Markets’ report on Protecting Our Economy by Strengthening the U.S. Banking System Through Higher Capital Requirements. “Our economy depends on a vibrant banking system that can support America’s families and businesses in good times and bad […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— President and CEO Dennis M. Kelleher issued the following statement in response to the CFPB’s latest action against widespread lawbreaking at Wells Fargo: “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is to be applauded for its latest action against Wells Fargo, including for imposing a $1.7 billion fine on top of ordering the bank […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, issued this statement in response to the confirmation by the Senate of President Joe Biden’s nominee Martin Gruenberg to serve as Chair and Member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: “We applaud President Biden for nominating Martin Gruenberg to be Chair […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Stephen Hall, Better Markets’ Legal Director and Securities Specialist, issued the following statement after the SEC voted to propose a set of reforms that can benefit investors by improving the way securities trades are routed and executed: “The trading systems that dominate our overly fragmented and needlessly complex markets today aren’t fair or transparent. […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— President and CEO Dennis M. Kelleher issued the following statement in connection with the Federal Reserve’s FOMC meetings this week and released a Fact Sheet on the Federal Reserve’s actions decoupling asset pricing from risk from 2008-2022 and creating systemic instability. “While most of the attention this week will be on the Federal Reserve’s Federal […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis Kelleher, Co-Founder, President, and CEO, issued the following statement on the jury verdict convicting another JPMorgan Chase officer of criminal conduct: “There has been a crime spree on Wall Street for decades largely because the financial crooks believed they wouldn’t get caught and, if caught, not punished. Today’s jury verdict criminally convicting […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— President and CEO Dennis M. Kelleher issued the following statement after submitting a complaint to the CFTC’s Office of the Inspector General requesting an investigation into Commissioner Caroline Pham’s apparent public disclosure of highly confidential information involving the application of KalshiEx LLC (Kalshi) for approval of a “political event contract,” which would allow […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Stephen Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist, issued the following statement in connection with the upcoming oral argument in Lee v. Fisher, case number 21-15923 in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit: “On Monday, December 12th, the Ninth Circuit, sitting en banc, will hear oral argument in Lee v. […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— In a CNBC Op-Ed published today, Better Markets’ President and CEO Dennis Kelleher and American Bankers Association’s President and CEO Rob Nichols detail how “Crypto companies and other nonbanks pose a significant and increasing risk to our financial system that needs to be better understood and regulated.” The full Op-Ed can be found […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Phillip Basil, Director of Banking Policy at Better Markets, issued this statement upon the release of the Federal Reserve’s draft principles for climate-related financial risk management for large banks: “Better Markets applauds the Federal Reserve’s move to join both the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis M. Kelleher, Co-founder, President and CEO, issued the following statement in connection with tomorrow’s Senate Agriculture Committee, hearing to push a crypto bill that was FTX’s and Sam Bankman-Fried’s number one legislative priority: “Given what has been reported about FTX’s and Sam Bankman-Fried’s reckless, fraudulent, illegal and possible criminal conduct, it is […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Phillip Basil, Director of Banking Policy at Better Markets, issued this statement in response to the publication of supervisory feedback letters related to the most recent resolution plans of the Global Systemically Important Banks: “As with the late Friday announcement of the supervisory feedback on Truist Financial’s so-called living will, the banking agencies have […]
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The CFTC’s Ready, Shoot, Aim Approach to Legislation Should be Rejected WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis M. Kelleher, Co-founder, President and CEO, issued the following statement in response to the Senate Agriculture Committee’s announcement of a hearing entitled “Why Congress Needs to Act: Lessons Learned from the FTX Collapse” on December 1, 2022: “Before its collapse last […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Stephen Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist, issued the following statement in response to the SEC’s enforcement statistics for fiscal year 2022, released today: “The numbers sound impressive. For example, the SEC announced that it brought 9% more enforcement actions in FY 2022 compared to the prior fiscal year, with a 6.5% bump up […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Stephen Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist, issued the following statementin connection with yesterday’s filing of an amicus curiae brief, led by Public Citizen and joined by Better Markets and the Consumer Federation of America, in Lee v. Fisher, case number 21-15923 in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit: […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis M. Kelleher, Co-founder, President and CEO, issued the following statement regarding the CFTC Chair’s attempt to push Congress into quickly passing crypto-friendly legislation: “The CFTC Chair is using scare tactics (i.e., if you don’t act, there’s going to be a crisis) to push Congress into blindly passing crypto-friendly legislation that installs a […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis M. Kelleher, Co-founder, President and CEO, issued the following statement regarding the CFTC’s failure to properly regulate or supervise FTX, which was registered and licensed by the CFTC and which had hired innumerable former CFTC officials: “FTX via FTX Derivatives US LLC, a derivatives clearing organization (DCO), is licensed by and registered […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis M. Kelleher, Co-founder, President and CEO, released an in-depth Fact Sheet on the collapse of FTX, which also sets the record straight on FTX’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, JP Morgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon, crypto, the SEC, CFTC and banking regulators, the influence industry, and the revolving door. In the Fact Sheet, Mr. […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Phillip Basil, Director of Banking Policy at Better Markets, issued this statement in response to the Federal Reserve’s release today of its semi-annual Supervision and Regulation Report: “Today’s Federal Reserve Supervision and Regulation report makes clear that the Trump-era ‘kinder, gentler’ approach to supervision of the country’s biggest too-big-to-fail banks is over. Without meaningful […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Better Markets President and CEO Dennis M. Kelleher issued the following statement regarding FTX’s pending application before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to offer non-intermediated, margined clearing of Bitcoin futures products that eliminated critical layers of clearing house protections: “FTX has an application pending before the CFTC to eliminate FCMs and other […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Dennis Kelleher, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Better Markets, issued this statement in response to the Federal Reserve’s release of its semi-annual Financial Stability Report last Friday: “The Federal Reserve’s latest semi-annual Financial Stability Report released late on Friday finally admitted something we have been saying for a long time – its policies are […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Better Markets congratulates Tim Clark, the organization’s Distinguished Senior Banking Adviser, on his appointment to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC’s) Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee (SRAC). The Committee provides advice and recommendations on a broad range of issues regarding the resolution of systemically important financial companies. “Tim’s 23 years of experience at the […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Stephen Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist, issued the following statement upon the Securities Exchange Commission’s proposed rule: “Better Markets welcomes the SEC’s proposed rulemaking to protect investors and financial stability by improving liquidity management and implementing swing pricing for open-end funds. “As one of the primary investment vehicles for Americans’ hard-earned retirement […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Dennis M. Kelleher, Co-founder, President, and CEO, released the following statement in connection with today’s announcement by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on its enforcement record for fiscal year 2022: “The SEC’s enforcement results, as presented by the Chair today, were much improved, but much more needs to be done, including relying less […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Stephen Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist, issued the following statement in response to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) adoption of a final rule on Listing Standards for Recovery of Erroneously Awarded Compensation: “This rule is a big win for investors. When companies distort their financial statements, regardless of whether it’s through […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis Kelleher, Cofounder, President, and CEO, issued the following statement regarding a letter he sent today to SEC Chair Gary Gensler addressing issues raised in a letter he received from twelve U.S. Senators: “Twelve Senators recently sent SEC Chair Gary Gensler a letter highlighting the importance of the work of the agency and […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis Kelleher, Cofounder, President and CEO, issued the following statement in response to the recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Community Financial Services Association of America, Ltd. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: “A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, issued this statement following the remarks by Acting Chair of the FDIC Martin Gruenberg at an event today at the Brookings Institution entitled “Regulating digital assets: The prudential perspective”: “As crypto and other digital assets proliferate along with promoters’ claims they will address many of society’s […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, issued the following statement upon the approval by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in consultation with the FDIC (“banking agencies”) for U.S. Bancorp to acquire the U.S. operations of MUFG, which will make U.S. Bancorp the seventh largest U.S. […]
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Stephen Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist, issued the following statement in connection with Better Markets’ comment letter filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in response to a proposed rule to reform the governance and the management of conflicts of interest at financial clearing agencies. “Clearing agencies play a vital role […]
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