Week InAdvance: September 29, 2014

 

Relevant Congressional Activity  |  Relevant Agency Activity

The Senate and the House remain out of session, and there are no relevant committee hearings planned in either chamber of Congress. Similarly, there are no government agency meetings of interest planned this week.

 

However, securities regulators and Wall Street executives will meet in Washington this week to discuss changes to equity market structure, including a pilot program to test ways to boost trading in smaller stocks. Speakers includeU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission member Daniel Gallagher, SEC Trading and Markets Director Stephen Luparello, and chairman and CEO of Finra, Richard Ketchum.

When Congress returns Nov. 12, after the midterm elections, we expect a lame-duck session mostly free of controversial legislation, although if President Obama pushes for confirmation of a new attorney general to replace the departing Eric Holder, things could heat up in the Senate.

 

Lawmakers will have to address spending, with the current stop-gap spending bill set to expire Dec. 11.   It is unclear if the two chambers will be able to agree on an omnibus spending bill to carry through until the end of the next fiscal year or if they will punt it to the next Congress by passing another short-term "continuing resolution."

 

Other items on the congressional to-do list include reauthorizations of defense and intelligence operations, terrorism risk insurance and extensions of several dozen tax breaks ("extenders"), which lawmakers have continually promised to address during the lame-duck session. The House and Senate's widely diverging approaches to extenders, with the House looking to extend a select few permanently and the Senate preferring a two-year extension of all the provisions, signal tough negotiations ahead. 

RelevantCongressionalActivityRelevant Congressional Activity

 

The Senate and the House are in recess.
 

 

RelevantAgencyActivityRelevant Agency Activity

 

No government agencies will hold any meetings of interest.

 

Relevant Global Activity 

International Organization of Securities Commissions

On Sunday. Sept. 28th, IOSCO will begin its five-day "39th IOSCO Annual Conference" in Rio de Janeiro. Speakers include:

  • Mary Jo White, chair of the US SEC
  • Michelle Edkins, managing director of BlackRock

 

 

 

Other Activity


Corporate Council

 

On Wed. Oct 1st, the Corporate Council will begin its two-day "8th Annual Hedge Fund General Counsel and Compliance Summit" in New York City. Speakers include: 

  • Andrew Bowden, deputy director of the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations ("OCIE")
  • Gary Barnett, director of the CFTC's Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight 
     

Security Traders Association

On Wed. Oct 1st, the Security Traders Association will begin its three-day "81st Annual Market Structure Conference" in Washington, DC. Speakers include:
  • Stephen Luparello, director of the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets
  • Daniel Gallagher, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Member
  • Richard G. Ketchum, Chairman and CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra)
  • Robert Greifeld, CEO, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc.
  • Tom Farley, NYSE Group Inc. President
  • Christopher R. Concannon, Virtu Financial LLC
  • Frank Hatheway, Nasdaq Chief Economist
  • Troy A. Paredes, Former SEC Commissioner
  • Jill Sommers, former Commodity Futures Trading Commission member
  • Sapna Patel, head of market structure and liquidity strategy for the Americas