Law and regulation

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is not waiting for regulatory reform's enactment to develop plans for a new resolution system.

When the largest banks report second-quarter results this month, there will likely be less to brag about on the credit front, and tough questions to answer about the probable impact of financial reform.

Bring in Michael Bloomberg. He's going to be available in three more years. Tap him now, as the next SEC chairman.

The financial reform legislation does little to ensure accountability among regulators, who so far have appeared more interested in deflecting blame.

Investment advisers may face tough compliance issues in the wake of the Securities and Exchange Commission's unanimous adoption last week of rules designed to prevent IAs from making political contributions to elected officials to obtain business from state and local pension funds, investment pools and college-savings accounts.

Sen. Maria Cantwell announced late Thursday that she intends to support regulatory reform, giving a boost to the bill's prospects in the Senate, which plans to take up the legislation later this month when Congress returns from a Fourth of July recess.

Bankers have spent months saying they are making every good loan possible, and now regulators are demanding more information to prove it.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday unanimously adopted rules designed to prevent investment advisers from making political contributions to elected officials to obtain business from state and local pension funds, investment pools and college savings accounts.

Bankers and some lawmakers reacted with a mix of uncertainty and outrage on Wednesday after the conference committee opted to raise deposit insurance premiums on large institutions in an effort to pay the costs of the regulatory reform bill.

The House passed a mammoth financial reform bill late Wednesday 237 to 192, sending the bill to the Senate, which is not expected to act until later this month.

Even though the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board technically lost a Supreme Court ruling Monday, the board is likely to emerge stronger now that the element of uncertainty has been removed.

In an emergency session to salvage wayward votes and put regulatory reform legislation back on track, House and Senate conferees agreed late Tuesday to strip a proposed bank tax from the bill and add other budget offsetting mechanisms in its place.

Federal regulators would spend months, if not years, implementing the sweeping changes to the municipal market that were outlined in the financial regulatory reform legislation finalized by House and Senate negotiators late last week.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said it effected an "emergency asset freeze" against a "purported fund manager" by the name of Daniel Spitzer, based in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has updated its standards for the reporting of certain financial instruments and external investment pools by government entities.

While the House is still expected to pass the final bill soon, it was unclear when the Senate would act, or whether Democrats still had enough support to enact it.

The Supreme Court ruled against the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in a 5-4 decision, finding that the way board members are appointed is unconstitutional.

While some financial companies worry about the ramifications of the sweeping financial reform that is set to pass, asset managers won’t feel the heat.

The reform bill that was agreed upon by House and Senate conferees today is not likely to resolve what activities get split off from banks and how other specifics of its provisions get implemented, financial industry executives said Friday.

Those looking for clear winners and losers after the conference committee struck a historic final agreement early Friday on regulatory reform legislation are bound to be frustrated.