Regulation

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.

Interviews with analysts, industry representatives, academics and other sources point to a growing consensus on how some of these issues will play out.

Internal Revenue Service officials Thursday said that there are no plans to audit up to half of all Build America Bond deals, backing away from remarks they made last week.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday that the central bank remains committed to expanding the flow of credit to small businesses, saying it has retrained its examiners to ensure they are not part of the problem.

WASHINGTON — Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Warren Buffett warned a panel investigating the causes of the financial crisis Wednesday that states and localities may face “terrible” financial distress in the next five to 10 years that in turn could lead some to look to the federal government for bailouts.