Europe debt crisis summary

Leading the Past WeekThe past week was an incredibly busy one here in Washington, DC. Leading the past week, an overwhelming majority of the Senate voted to pass the capital formation deregulation bill, colloquially known as the JOBS Act, but not before adding an amendment to increase the regulations on crowdfunding from the House version. This change only served as a small speed bump, as it sent the bill back to the House which is expected to pass the bill again by a wide margin early this week, before sending the bill to the President. Given that the President had asked Congress to pass the bill, it will be interesting to see whether he holds a signing ceremony, which could potentially put him in the politically tricky situation of having to congratulate the so-called “do nothing” Congress he is trying to run against.Nearly drowned out by the news of the JOBS bill was the fact that a bipartisan group of senators (3 Ds and 3Rs) came together to introduce legislation to … [Read more...] about Financial Services Legislative and Regulatory Update March 26, 2012

Before leaving for the Christmas recess the House of Representatives passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 332 to 94.  With the Senate expected to follow suit early next week, it will mean that for the first time since 1997, Congress will have voted to approve a budget bill.  This achievement, which required some pain from both sides, is offered up by some as akin to the baby steps necessary to help repair a broken relationship, and potentially helping to bridge a path towards tax reform.  However, these perspectives may be too optimistic, especially with a calendar next year that quickly tees up votes on an omnibus appropriations bill to keep the government open, and to increase the debt ceiling, both of which have the distinct ability to suck the life out of whatever reconciliation was achieved through the budget process. Outside of Congress, the other major story from this past week … [Read more...] about Financial Services Legislative and Regulatory Update – December 16, 2013

Leading the Past WeekClearly the leading news last week was the Supreme Court’s decision holding the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. Additionally, the Senate moved forward, albeit without securing 70 votes, for comprehensive immigration reform.  The final passage was 68-32 and now the attention on immigration reform turns to the House, where the Senate passed bill faces some challenges to becoming law. This past week the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on five different nominations including Congressman Mel Watt to be Director of the Federal Housing Finance Authority.  This hearing came on the heels of the introduction of a broad, bipartisan bill to reform Fannie and Freddie.  It also foretold how we anticipate that, despite how much attention is being paid to how July will be consumed by a nominations fight on the Senate floor, the major policy initiative for the month will focus on housing finance reform.  Whether Watt is … [Read more...] about Financial Services Legislative and Regulatory Update – Week of July 1, 2013

Spring began last week in the northern hemisphere, inciting optimism that warmer and sunnier days soon lie ahead. Optimism also reigned in the futures industry as a result of the publication of proposed rules by the Shanghai International Energy Exchange that heighten the expectation that non-China-based brokers and traders will soon be permitted to directly trade the exchange’s crude oil futures contract. Meanwhile, ICE Futures U.S. was fined US $3 million by the CFTC for allegedly reporting inaccurate trade, price and other information to the Commission for 325 days, and FINRA proposed a new registration category for algorithmic traders’ top developers and supervisors. As a result, the following matters are covered in this week’s  Bridging the Week :ICE Futures Fined US $3 Million by CFTC for Reporting Errors and Untimely Response to Inquiries;CFTC Grants Hong Kong Part 30.10 Status (includes Compliance Weeds);BIS/IOSCO Delays Rollout of Margin … [Read more...] about Exchange Fined; Algorithmic Traders; Red Flags; China Access- Bridging the Week: March 16 to 20 and 23, 2015

SummaryNext week will be a committee week in the European Parliament.  A few interesting votes and discussions will take place in committee.On Tuesday, the Committee on Legal Affairs (“JURI”) will vote on proposed amendments to the draft Regulation on copyright and related rights applicable to certain online transmissions of broadcasting organizations and retransmissions of television and radio programs. On Wednesday, the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (“IMCO”) will discuss the issue of “dual-quality food” with the European Commission, and in particular, ways to enforce EU consumer and food rules to ensure that products with the same packaging and brand are sold with ingredients of the same quality throughout the EU.On the same day, the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (“ITRE”) will discuss the Cybersecurity package and free flow of non-personal data with EU Commissioner for Digital Economy and … [Read more...] about The Week Ahead in the European Parliament – October 6, 2017