Week InAdvance: October 27, 2014

 

Relevant Congressional Activity  |  Relevant Agency Activity

 

For four days this week, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will travel to Cairo, Egypt; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and Pretoria and Johannesburg, South Africa for meetings with senior government officials and business leaders to discuss the state of the global economy and policies to promote regional growth and investment. In the U.S., regulators will continue to call on Wall Street to curb such errant behavior as the Libor scandal, foreign-exchange rate fixing, inadequate money-laundering controls and front-running.

 

On Wednesday, pay-to-play rule for municipal advisors, enhancements to price transparency, and asset-backed securities disclosure are on the agenda when the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board ("MSRB") board begins a three-day meeting. And Washington National Cathedral will host funeral services for former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, who died at the age of 93. Bradlee once said that the Watergate tapes would "take me to my grave with a huge smile on my face."

 

On Friday, chief executives from 12 regional U.S. banks with between roughly $50 billion and $150 billion of assets, are scheduled to meet with officials from the Fed in Washington to discuss ways to reduce the regulatory burden that the banks face. Read more.

 

Please see below for details on these and other events this week.

 

RelevantCongressionalActivityRelevant Congressional Activity

 

The Senate and the House are in recess.
 

 

RelevantAgencyActivityRelevant Agency Activity


 
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System


On Monday, Oct. 27 the Fed will hold a closed meeting for review and determination by the Board of Governors of the advance and discount rates to be charged by the Federal Reserve Banks. Read more. 


On Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 28-29, the Federal Open Market Committee ("FOMC"), the policy-making arm of the Fed, will hold a closed meeting in Washington, DC. Read more. 


Commodity Futures Trading Commission


On Friday, Oct. 31, the CFTC will hold a closed meeting on surveillance, enforcement, and examinations matters. Read more. 


Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

On Wednesday, Oct. 29, the FDIC Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion ("ComE-IN") will hold an open meeting in Arlington, VA to review the results of the "FDIC's National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households," and safe banking products. Read more. 


Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board


On Wednesday through Friday, Oct. 29-31, the MSRB will hold a closed meeting in Arlington, VA. The board will discuss comments received on its draft amendments to MSRB Rule G-37 to address potential pay-to-play activities by municipal advisers, as well as comment letters received on possible enhancements to post-trade transaction data that would be disseminated through a new central transparency platform. Other agenda items include the MSRB's long-range plan for market transparency products and the phased development of a central transparency platform for the municipal market. The board also will consider changes to the Facility for the Electronic Municipal Market Access ("EMMA") system to reflect the new category of disclosures concerning repurchases and replacements related to asset-backed securities. A summary of the board's actions will be sent to regulated entities and published on the MSRB website following the meeting. Read more. 
 


Relevant Global Activity 
 

Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 27-28


The 6th Financial Stability Conference will be held in Tilburg, Netherlands. Entitled "Financial Development, Financial Stability and Regulation: Lessons from the Present and the Past" attendees will discuss topics such as the evolution of bank supervision, the internal agency problem in banks and the evolution of the financial stability mandate. Read more. 


Wednesday, Oct. 29


The International Capital Market Association ("ICMA") will hold the "ICMA Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC) Meeting & Seminar" in London. Topics include re-launching growth in the current EU economic and regulatory environment. Read more. 


 

Other Relevant Activity

Monday, Oct. 27

Mohamed A. El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz, will deliver the Peterson Institute's 10th Whitman Lecture on "What Lies Ahead for the Global Economy: A BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Perspective" in Washington and via webcast. Read more.


Tuesday, Oct 28


The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Center for Capital Market Competitiveness will hold a discussion on a new report dealing with risk-based pricing for consumer lending in Washington DC. Read more. 


The Bipartisan Policy Center will hold a forum, "The Big Bank Theory: Breaking Down the Break-Up Argument" in Washington DC. Read more.


Wednesday, Oct. 29


The Practicing Law Institute's "Financial Services Industry Regulatory Compliance & Ethics Forum 2014" will be held in New York and via webcast. Speakers include Andrew M. Calamari of the SEC; Paula A. Bosco, New Mountain Capital chief regulatory counsel; and Ronald A. Holinsky, Lincoln Financial CCO. Read more. 


Thursday, Oct. 30


The Fed, in partnership with the American Economic Association, will hold the "National Summit on Diversity in the Economics Profession" in Washington DC. Presidents and research directors of the Federal Reserve Banks and chairs of economics departments from around the country will attend. Speakers will include Janet Yellen, the Fed chair. Attendance is by invitation only, but there will be an online webcast of event. Read more.