Compliance

The banking industry's effort to compensate for lost overdraft-fee income by phasing out free checking has hit a roadblock.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration proposed Monday to raise the required level of reserves at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to more than $80 billion — a move that would require banks to pony up a huge amount of money.

$30 billion initiative would be separate from Tarp

WASHINGTON — Though President Obama last week said the spate of government programs helping banks was comparable to a "root canal," there can be little doubt that a key part of those efforts — the Federal Reserve Board's multiple liquidity facilities — was vital in staving off economic collapse.

The Securities and Exchange Commission last Wednesday adopted several amendments to Rule 2a-7 governing money market funds that aim to reduce risks by increasing credit quality, improving liquidity, shortening maturity limits and requiring the disclosure of a fund’s “shadow” net asset value.

Consumers, professionals can verify an advisor’s credentials via CFFP or Nasdaq

Advisors would rather seek investment opportunities than revenge.

Their clients are fed up with Washington as a general rule.

What’s hot and what’s not in proposed financial services reform legislation.

The ETF Council, a new trade organization for exchange-traded funds that will focus on both marketing and lobbying, is set to launch next month.

Reserve Funds’ Primary Fund on Friday will make its sixth payment to investors. The $3.4 billion payment brings total payments to $50.5 billion, or approximately 99% of the fund’s assets as of Sept. 15, 2008, excluding the value of the Lehman Brothers securities it held, now valued at zero. Before the fund’s net asset value fell below $1.00 on Sept. 16, 2008, the fund held more than $60 billion.

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner used a hearing on the bailout of American International Group Wednesday to repeatedly endorse President Obama's plan to impose a 15 basis-point tax on large banks and restrict their growth and activities.

WASHINGTON — Though there is growing concern that interest rate increases will catch banks off guard, regulators are split on how big the threat is.

Will the proposed “Volcker Plan” really hurt large companies as much as feared?

WASHINGTON – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has scheduled a vote for Thursday that would clear the path to a second term for Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Switzerland’s Federal Administrative Court has ruled that the agreement for UBS to disclose the identities of 4,450 U.S.-based taxpayers to the IRS violates the country’s banking secrecy laws.

Stripping Rules Coming by July

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is considering a bill that would require mutual funds, pension plans and other large institutional investors to publicly reveal how they vote their proxies, to impose proper corporate governance on otherwise passive investors who, seemingly, don't vote in the fiduciary interest of their end investors.

Hedge fund investors are more concerned with transparency and liquidity than they are with performance, SEI and Greenwich Associates said in a survey report, titled “The Era of the Investors” New Rules of Institutional Hedge Fund Investing.”

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is considering a bill that would require mutual funds, pension plans and other large institutional investors to publicly reveal how they vote their proxies, to impose proper corporate governance on otherwise passive investors who, seemingly, don't vote in the fiduciary interest of their end investors.