The Federal Financial Forum

From: Convenience Store News

ASHINGTON, D.C. — Retailers concerned about the outcome of the class-action swipe-fee settlement with Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc. and other financial institutions are holding their breath as they await a major step in the case and its controversial settlement terms. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is expected to issue a ruling on the motion to appeal preliminary approval of the settlement tomorrow, Jan. 29, reported NACS, the Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing.

From: Bloomberg

By Ben Moshinsky & Jim Brunsden

As regulators sparred last month over international liquidity rules in Basel, Switzerland, one suggested racehorses could be used as collateral to access cheap cash at central banks in a crisis.

While the remark was said in jest, it highlights the split between regulators over how low to set the bar for the types of assets banks must hold to protect against funding shocks, according to a government official familiar with the talks who asked not to be identified because the negotiations were confidential. The December meeting of regulators didn’t yield a final deal on the so-called liquidity coverage ratio.

From: The Heritage Foundation

By Diane Katz

The Dodd–Frank financial regulation statute requires nearly 400 rulemakings.[1] As of January 2, some 60 percent of the rulemaking deadlines were missed, and a full third of the required regulations have not been proposed.[2] The delays may defer some compliance expenses. However, regulatory uncertainty also imposes costs on businesses as well as consumers, as the saga of the “remittance”[3] rules illustrates.

From: PCWorld

Only 9 percent of corporate account takeover cyberattacks resulted in money being transferred in early 2012, a survey says 

Grant Gross

U.S. banks and their customers are doing a better job of protecting themselves against cyberattacks that result in thieves taking over commercial accounts, according to a survey released by the Financial Services-Information Sharing and Analysis Center.

In the first half of 2012, just 9 percent of cyberattacks, involving Trojans, phishing and other electronic attacks, resulted in funds leaving banks, according to the survey of 95 financial institutions and five service providers. In 2011, 12 percent of account takeover attempts resulted in money leaving the banks, while in 2009, 70 percent of attacks involved money leaving the banks, said the survey, released Wednesday.