Week InReview:  September 26, 2014

IN THE INDUSTRY 

"Broken" Corporate Bond Market: (Sept. 25) BlackRock Inc. has made three attempts in as many years to draw attention to a corporate bond market which it says is "broken" and needs to improve liquidity. So far, the world's biggest money manager is garnering little support. Read more

Trade Reporting Rules: (Sept. 25) FINRA has proposed to delay its rollout of amendments to trade reporting rules governing its OTC reporting, alternative display and trade-reporting facilities. Read more

LIBOR Rigging (Sept. 25) The U.K. government plans to criminalize the manipulation of seven more benchmarks in markets from foreign exchange to gold and oil as it tries to revive confidence in the integrity of London as a financial center. Read more. 

Cross-Border Swap Dispute Risks Trade War: (Sept. 24) CFTC Commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo called for a "reset" of the cross-border regulatory relationship between the CFTC and the EU in order "to avoid a trade war in financial markets akin to that which worsened the Great Depression" in the 1930s. Read more

Munis & Liquidity Rules: (Sept. 19) Banks added to a record bet on the $3.7 trillion municipal market last quarter as an unprecedented rally overshadowed regulations that will remove an incentive for the companies to own the securities Read more.

 

ON THE HILL 

Both chambers of Congress were in recess this week. No committees in either the Senate and the House held any hearings of interest.

 

AT THE AGENCIES 

Corporate Inversions Rulemaking: (Sept. 25) The Treasury sought to avoid legal thin ice in its crackdown on corporate inversions. In announcing rules yesterday intended to make it harder for companies to reduce taxes by moving their address outside the U.S., Treasury largely relied on sections of the tax code that allow it to write rules without congressional action. Read more

Swaps Rule Comments: (Sept. 24) Financial regulators are seeking comment on a proposed rule to establish minimum margin and capital requirements for swap dealers and participants-including provisions requiring them to collect margin from some retirement plans involved in swaps deals. Read more

Cross-Border Swaps Oversight: (Sept. 23) The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia turned back most of a legal challenge by industry trade groups to the CFTC's oversight of cross-border swaps. The move hands the agency a significant victory in its bid to regulate swaps activity outside the U.S. Read more

ETFs & Global Oversight: (Sept. 23) ETF 'liquidity illusion' could pose a risk to market stability when rates start to rise, regulators fear. Read more.

 

 

This is not an all-inclusive list of congressional, agency and market participant actions related to these issues. It is a snap-shot of what we believe is of most interest to institutional investors. Some links are to subscriber-only sites.

 

 

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