The Federal Financial Forum

From: Compliance Week

Matt Kelly

ometimes the wisdom of our financial regulators truly impresses me—and that’s not sarcasm, either. The folks overseeing our financial system can make profound insights about how the banking system can run more smoothly.

Of course, I doubt financial regulators will actually do much with the profound insights they sometimes spout. But hey, baby steps.

The latest evidence to this point is the first annual report of the Office of Financial Research, published last Friday. The OFR is one of the multiple new agencies created by the Dodd-Frank Act; it’s intended to be the research department that supports the Financial Stability Oversight Council, that mishmash of existing financial regulators that Dodd-Frank also created when lawmakers were too chicken to consolidate oversight into a single agency like they should have.

From: GoBankingRates.com

By Stacey Bumpus

Credit bureaus, including major agencies like Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, will soon face government oversight for the first time, according to an announcement from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a consumer protection agency.

The new regulation is expected to have a positive impact on consumers who rely on annual credit report data to help determine their eligibility for loans and credit cards.

Consumer Protection Agency to Oversee 30 Credit Bureaus

The consumer protection agency announced on Monday that it will be supervising the nation’s largest credit reporting agencies, starting this fall.

by Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Public companies have struggled with the question of whether a cyber-intrusion triggers an obligation under the federal securities laws to disclose the intrusion to investors in a public filing. While the SEC has provided staff guidance on this issue, such guidance does not represent the official view of the SEC and the federal securities laws do not otherwise address cyber-intrusions specifically. Thus, companies remain uncertain about when, in the SEC’s view and under existing federal securities law, a cyber-intrusion triggers a disclosure obligation.

From: Thompson Reuters/News & Insights

By David Barker, Ph.D

(David Barker received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, where he previously taught real estate, urban economics, industrial organization and corporate finance.  He has worked as an economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and taught at the University of Iowa.)

Financial regulation, or lack of it, has created political conflict in the United States since the nation’s founding.  Central banks were established, dismantled and established again, and in the states and territories, banking was at times outlawed and at other times only lightly regulated.

By Stuart Gittleman

NEW YORK, June 26 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) – Two court rulings last week may raise the enforcement burden for the financial services industry and its regulators.

A Brooklyn federal judge suggested that for regulatory targets of the Securities and Exchange Commission, forcing the agency to take them to court could end up costing less than settling before litigation is begun, depending on legal fees and other considerations, because its ability to seek compensation in court is limited.And a Supreme Court ruling may make investigating potential violations more expensive and time-consuming for prosecutors and agency lawyers as well as criminal and regulatory defense counsel and may also cut the number of jury trials.