Compliance

The federal government’s Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission has subpoenaed Moody’s Corp. for allegedly failing to provide requested information.

WASHINGTON – The Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed large trader reporting system would seriously hinder large floor traders and brokerages, according to industry executives.

WASHINGTON — The Senate Agriculture Committee has voted 13 to 8, mostly along party lines, to approve a bill to regulate over-the-counter derivatives. The bill would impose a fiduciary duty on dealers who pitch, advise or enter into swaps with localities, endowment funds, or pension funds.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) actions against Goldman Sachs have sent credit default swap spreads spiraling wider not only for Goldman, but for the entire banking sector, according to Fitch Solutions.

Lawmakers split Tuesday on whether the regulatory reform bill should include a "financial crisis responsibility fee" charged on the largest institutions.

After more than a week of escalating partisan rhetoric over regulatory reform, Senate Republican leaders significantly changed their tone on Tuesday, suggesting a bipartisan bill was now within reach.

Seeking to win Republican votes for regulatory reform legislation, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd and other Democrats suggested Monday that they are open to eliminating a proposed $50 billion resolution fund for systemically important institutions.

As lawmakers continue to spar over regulatory reform legislation, a separate push to charge the largest banks a "financial crisis responsibility fee" is gaining momentum.

XBRL US is working on applications for Apple’s iPhone and newly release iPad. The goal is to demonstrate the power of XBRL in a simple and accessible way, said XBRL US President and Chief Executive Mark Bolgiano.

As mutual fund companies turn out derivatives- and leveraged-laden offerings, regulators are becoming increasingly concerned that funds, and the financial industry at large, are forgetting the lessons of the Great Recession by returning to complicated, high-risk products.

The collateralized debt obligation at the center of the fraud case against Goldman Sachs is known as ABACUS 2007-AC1, and a class of its debt was cut to "D" from "CCC-" by Standard and Poor’s in May 2009.

More than 18 months after the largest bank failure in U.S. history, regulators of the collapsed Washington Mutual Inc. faced a day of reckoning Friday, with a key lawmaker accusing them of gross incompetence.

The political pressure to enact financial reform intensified Friday as the government accused Goldman Sachs Group Inc. of defrauding investors and the Senate concluded two days of hearings highlighting the assertedly lax supervision that preceded the largest bank failure in the country's history.

SEC Charges Goldman With Civil FraudRegulator alleges misleading statements and omissions regarding subprime securities.By Lee Conrad, On Wall StreetThe Securities & Exchange Commission sued Goldman Sachs for securities fraud today, saying that the financial powerhouse made “materially misleading statements and omissions” regarding a structured product sold to investors.The product was tied to the performance of subprime residential mortgages and was structured and marketed in early 2007, just when the U.S. housing market first showed signs of strain, the suit said.The SEC alleged that investors were not told that hedge fund Paulson & Co. had a hand in the selection of residential mortgages that were part of the structured product. Paulson subsequently made a profit of about $1 billion from this product by betting that the housing market would fall.After the selection of the portfolio for this product, Paulson effectively shorted the residential mortgage backed market by using credit default swaps. The suit says that “Paulson had an economic incentive to choose [residential mortgages] that it expected to experience credit events in the near future.” And Goldman’s product did not disclose Paulson’s contrarian economic interests. Indeed, Paulson’s selection process for this product favored borrowers with adjustable rate mortgages, relatively low FICO scores, and who were located in states like Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada, which had recently experienced steep inclines in home value.Goldman said in a statement that the SEC’s charges are “completely unfounded in law and fact and we will vigorously contest them and defend the firm and its reputation.”The Securities & Exchange Commission sued Goldman Sachs for securities fraud Friday, saying the financial powerhouse made “materially misleading statements and omissions” regarding a structured product sold to investors.

Morgan Keegan Reassures InvestorsFraud probe won't harm accounts, CEO says.JMIn a letter to investors, Morgan Keegan & Co. CEO John Carson said that recent fraud charges against the company by state and federal regulators won't harm its accounts and added that the firm intends to defend itself against the charges."First and foremost, I want to reassure you of the safety of your accounts held with Morgan Keegan," Carson said last week. "These charges, which relate to a mutual fund management business that was sold in 2008, should not be construed as claims against the business of the firm as a whole."Morgan Keegan has been accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and a number of states of manipulating prices on subprime securities.In a letter to investors, Morgan Keegan & Co. CEO John Carson said that recent fraud charges against the company by state and federal regulators won't harm its accounts and added that the firm intends to defend itself against the charges.

The financial powerhouse allowed a short-selling hedge fund to help structure a product it then sold to investors, the SEC announced.

A lawmaker and a Treasury Department official Thursday pushed for a permanent extension of the Build America Bond program, but acknowledged that the greatest obstacle is finding a way to pay for it.

Database would give the SEC details on each trade

The Securities and Exchange Commission task force on hedge funds, buyout funds and mutual funds is looking to hire five fund managers, chief operating officers or executives with “direct exposure to trading and operations,” according to a help-wanted ad it placed last month.

The Office of Thrift Supervision was more focused on blocking the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. from reining in Washington Mutual Inc. than it was in regulating the thrift company itself, congressional investigators and two watchdogs said Thursday.