Regulation

A fight is brewing over which agency should replace the soon-to-be-eliminated Office of Thrift Supervision on the board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. While the House regulatory reform bill would give that seat to the Federal Reserve Board, the Senate's version would assign it to the proposed consumer protection bureau.

Four Canadians and two Americans were charged with swindling $300 million from investors who believed they were putting money into a gold mining operation.

The regulatory reform conference committee officially kicked off Thursday, and while the final fate of key provisions remains up in the air, it is clear senators have several advantages over their House counterparts.

WASHINGTON — Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd Wednesday endorsed a proposal to force banks to spin off their derivatives desks, saying Sen. Blanche Lincoln's primary win this week had increased odds some form of it would be in the final regulatory reform bill.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd on Wednesday endorsed a proposal to force banks to spin off their derivatives desks, saying Sen. Blanche Lincoln's primary win this week had increased odds some form of it would be in the final regulatory reform bill.

Chairman Mary Schapiro recently told the Business Roundtable that the regulator is looking at proxy firms and the OBO/NOBO (“non-objecting beneficial owners”) systems.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing a concept release on proxy firms and their OBO/NOBO (“non-objecting beneficial owners”) systems, Chairman Mary Schapiro recently told the Business Roundtable. The SEC aims to revise the proxy access rule by 2011.

An IRS agent has been charged with soliciting and accepting a $9,700 bribe from two business owners in exchange for lowering the amount of taxes they owed.

WASHINGTON — With lawmakers intent on sending a final regulatory reform bill to President Obama by July 4, much of the legwork is already happening behind the scenes on how to tackle a host of unresolved issues, including a proposed swaps ban, a stringent capital requirement, interchange fee regulation and a consumer protection agency.

With lawmakers from both chambers of Congress set to begin hammering out a single financial regulatory reform bill on Wednesday, one of the most contentious municipal-market issues to be worked out centers on who will regulate non-dealer financial advisers, swap advisers and other market intermediaries.