Regulation

The top Democrat on a House panel that plans to hold a hearing Wednesday on “State and Municipal Debt: The Coming Crisis,” believes states and localities need to reform their pension systems, but is uncertain about whether states in severe fiscal distress should be permitted to file for bankruptcy protection.

While banks are likely to object to proposed regulatory restrictions on executive pay, the plan unveiled Monday to discourage risky pay structures could have gone a lot farther.

PHOENIX-Exactly who will create and enforce a new, uniform fiduciary standard for not just brokers, but investment advisers, as well?

Five days before a House panel is set to hold a hearing — “State and Municipal Debt: the Coming Crisis?” — governors are insisting that municipal securities are among the safest investments and that states are keenly aware of the need to repay their obligations.

Some lawmakers, industry insiders and consumer advocates say a legislative role is needed to ensure rules are binding and combine various state and federal policies.

The SEC's Chairman declared Friday that the Wall Street firms it is supposed to watch and prevent from disrupting increasingly high-speed digitally driven markets spend far more on technology than the Securities and Exchange Commission has at its disposal for all its functions.

AXA Rosenberg said it agreed to pay $217 million to cover investor losses as well as a $25 million civil penalty, in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding a coding error with its risk model.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association spells out the unintended consequences of the proposed regulation.

The California asset manager said it agreed to pay $217 million to cover investor losses as well as a $25 million civil penalty, in a settlement with the SEC over a coding error in its risk model. The firm's chairman, Barr Rosenberg, resigned, after a probe into errors in the firm's data systems.

“Something has gone very wrong in Washington,” said Tom Giachetti of Stark & Stark Attorneys at Law. “You cannot catch criminals through more regulation. Investment advisors will be burdened with more costs and it’s not protecting the investing public. This is a knee jerk reaction to Bernie Madoff.”