Law and regulation

WASHINGTON — As the Senate prepares to debate regulatory reform legislation, Sen. Carl Levin is using the failed Washington Mutual Inc. as evidence that the bill's most contentious provisions are necessary.

FINRA fine grew out of blackmail attempt against the firm.

Though touted as a way to avert the next financial crisis, the massive regulatory reform bill awaiting a Senate vote ignores key contributing factors, including an inefficient and outdated regulatory structure, a broken housing finance market and weak underwriting standards that spurred a wave of unaffordable mortgages.

Although the idea of restricting grantor retained annuity trusts, or GRATs, had been tossed around previously, estate planners didn’t think it would become a reality.

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Daniel Tarullo reiterated Thursday that the Fed needs to move carefully as it unwinds its liquidity facilities to ensure it does not disrupt still-fragile markets.

Or so it would seem as execs, regulators refuse to take blame

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Robert J. Keyes has been named Associate Regional Director and Chief of Regional Office Operations in the agency's New York Regional Office.

Arguing that regulators are not likely to correctly predict the next crisis, former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan said Wednesday that banks must hold more capital and face higher collateral requirements.

If it were simpler to explain, address or even pronounce, interconnectedness might have been the primary target of financial system reformers.

SEC and FINRA actions mark the latest chapter in Morgan Keegan’s ill-fated bond funds saga.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has named Kathleen Griffin as the agency's first chief compliance officer in an ongoing effort to strengthen its internal compliance program.

An obscure provision in the regulatory reform bill adopted by the House has become a flash point in the fight over whether the legislation should spell out rules for regulators or give them wide flexibility.

State and local governments will save $12.3 billion on the $90 billion of Build America Bonds issued so far compared with traditional tax-exempt debt, the Treasury Department said in a recent report touting the success of the program.

Mutual fund investors often represent significant shareholder blocks in big Wall Street firms, but they take little interest in elections of board directors or other proxy matters.

From its inception, a key pitch for legislation to rework the regulatory system has been that it will provide regulators with more tools to prevent another banking crisis. Yet the most highlighted provisions of both the House and Senate bills would give regulators authority they already have, and so far have largely ignored.

Mutual fund investors often represent significant shareholder blocks in big Wall Street firms, but they take little interest in elections of board directors or other proxy matters.

As the distressed-asset market begins to stabilize, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is shaking up the way it handles failed banks and their assets.

State regulators are urging Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd to change a provision in the regulatory reform bill that they claim would force most large state banks to convert to national charters.

A key point of contention in the Senate regulatory reform bill comes down to a critical question: How much flexibility should the government have when a systemically important firm falters?

A key banking industry argument against the creation of a consumer protection agency — that the new division would write rules that conflict with safety and soundness standards — is shaky.