The Federal Financial Forum

From: New York Law Journal

George W. Madison, Michael E. Borden and Michael D. Lewis

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In June, the Treasury Department issued a report, “A Financial System That Creates Economic Opportunities: Banks and Credit Unions,” that serves as the most detailed roadmap yet on how Congress and the federal financial regulators might revisit the post-financial crisis regulatory framework. It is a blueprint primarily for loosening regulation of the U.S. banking sector. The recommendations in the Treasury report represent a wide-ranging rethinking of the rules governing banks and credit unions. If the recommendations were implemented in full or in large part, they would meaningfully reduce costs and other burdens for many institutions. Critics say they would negatively impact the financial system.

From: PaymentsSource

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So far, regulators in most major markets haven’t taken actions as drastic as China, whose ban on ICOs spurred selloffs across bitcoin and ethereum. The U.S. said in July ICO issuers must adhere to federal securities law, while Singapore and Hong Kong have also said they will regulate such sales if the tokens constitute securities. The latter said in a statement on Tuesday that ICOs bear risks of fraud and money laundering.

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From: Financial Regulation News

By Dave Kovaleski 

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending that Congress consider legislation to reduce the expected rate of return for companies that sell federal crop insurance.

To implement the federal crop insurance program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) partners with private insurance companies, which sell and service policies. In 2010, USDA negotiated a set rate of return with these companies—that is, how much companies can profit from these insurance policies. However, GAO found that this expected rate of return was too high compared with market conditions. Reducing it could save the federal crop insurance program hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

From: Burlington Free Press

April McCullum, Burlington Free Press

Vermont state officials bear some responsibility for what authorities say was a complex fraud in the Northeast Kingdom, concludes a recent U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service report.

Federal and state officials have accused businessmen Ariel Quiros and Bill Stenger of misusing about $200 million of EB-5 foreign investor funds at Jay Peak and elsewhere in the Northeast Kingdom. The eight Jay Peak-related projects were approved and promoted by state government officials at the Vermont EB-5 Regional Center in the Agency of Commerce and Community Development.

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Editor’s Note: Cross-posted from OIRA Watch.

From: The Regulatory Review

Structural Reforms to Improve Cost-Benefit Analyses of Financial Regulation

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