Week InAdvance June 16, 2014

 

Relevant Congressional Activity  |  Relevant Agency Activity

A House leadership election and appropriations action in both chambers of Congress top this week's agenda on Capitol Hill. House Republicans have scheduled an election Thursday, June 19, 2014, for the next House majority leader following Eric Cantor's loss in last week's Virginia Republican primary. Cantor said he would step down from the leadership post on July 31, 2014.

 

The House also plans to take up H.R. 4413, which would reauthorize the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). A modified version of H.R. 4413 would reauthorize the CFTC for five years, through fiscal 2018, and would also make changes to derivatives regulations established in the 2010 Dodd-Frank law. The bill also contains provisions from several other bills, including four that the House has already passed as stand-alone measures.

 

On Tuesday, June 17, 2014, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a confirmation hearing to consider Julian Castro's nomination to be secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). If confirmed, Castro - the mayor of San Antonio, Texas - will replace current HUD secretary Shaun Donovan, who has been nominated to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). At the same hearing, the committee will also consider the nomination of Laura Wertheimer to be inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

 

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hold a hearing on Tuesday, June 17, 2014, on "conflicts of interest" in stock markets, including the impact of high frequency trading. The subcommittee is chaired by Sen. Carl Levin and has produced several high profile investigations into Wall Street and the financial crisis in recent years. The subcommittee will not, however, release a report to coincide with the hearing. Witnesses will include representatives from stock exchanges, brokerage firms and institutional investors, as well as a securities market expert. SEC officials are asking similar questions as part of the agency's own stock market review.

 

Please see below for further detail on these events and others in Washington this week.

RelevantCongressionalActivityRelevant Congressional Activity

 

House Appropriations Committee

On Wednesday, June 18, 2014, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government will mark up its FY 2015 spending bill on Wednesday, June 18, 2014.

 

House Financial Services Committee

On Wednesday, June 18, 2014, the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing entitled "The Semi-Annual Report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau." The sole witness will be CFPB Director Richard Cordray.

 

Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee

On Tuesday, June 17, 2014, the Senate Banking Committee will consider the nominations of Julian Castro to be secretary of HUD and Laura Wertheimer to be inspector general of the FHFA. Witnesses will be:

  • The Honorable Julian Castro - Mayor, San Antonio TX
  • Ms. Laura Wertheimer - Partner, Securities Department, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, LLP 

On Wednesday, June 18, 2014, the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment will hold a hearing entitled "High Frequency Trading's Impact on the Economy." Witnesses will be:

  • Hal S. Scott, Nomura Professor of International Financial Systems, Harvard Law School
  • Jeffry Solomon, Chairman and CEO, Cowen Group, Inc. 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee

On Tuesday, June 17, 2014, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hold a hearing entitled "Conflicts of Interest, Investor Loss of Confidence and High Speed Trading in U.S. Stock Markets." Witnesses will be

  • Bradley Katsuyama - President & CEO, IEX Group, Inc., New York NY
  • Robert H. Battalio - Professor of Finance, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame IN
  • Thomas W. Farley - President, NYSE Group, New York NY
  • Joseph P. Ratterman - CEO, BATS Global Markets Inc., Lenexa KS
  • Joseph P. Brennan - Principal and Head of Global Equity Index Group, The Vanguard Group Inc., Malvern PA
  • Steven Quirk - Senior Vice President, Trader Group, TD Ameritrade, Omaha NE
RelevantAgencyActivityRelevant Agency Activity

 

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

On Monday, June 16, 2014, the Board of Governors will hold a closed meeting for review and determination of the advance and discount rates to be charged by the Federal Reserve banks.

 

On Tuesday, June 17, 2014, and Wednesday, June 18, 2014, the Federal Open Market Committee ("FOMC") will hold a closed meeting. Fed chair Janet Yellen will hold a news conference following the Wednesday meeting.

 

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

On Thursday, June 19, 2014, the CFTC will hold a public roundtable to discuss position limits for physical commodity derivatives. The roundtable will focus on hedges of a physical commodity by a commercial enterprise, including gross hedging, cross-commodity hedging, anticipatory hedging, and the process for obtaining a non-enumerated exemption. Discussion will include the setting of spot month limits in physical-delivery and cash-settled contracts and a conditional spot-month limit exemption. Further, discussion will include aggregation of positions based on ownership interests of greater than 50 percent of an owned entity and aggregation based on substantially identical trading strategies.

 

On Friday, June 20, 2014, the CFTC will hold a closed meeting on surveillance, enforcement matters and examinations.

 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

On Wednesday, June 18, 2014, and Thursday, June 19, 2014, the CFPB will hold a board meeting. Topics include Title XIV mortgage rules and trends and themes in the marketplace.

 

Securities and Exchange Commission

On Thursday, June 19, 2014, the SEC will hold a closed meeting. Topics include institution and settlement of injunctive actions and administrative proceedings, an adjudicatory matter, and other enforcement matters.