Week InReview | RRP, IOER, MBS, EEK! Financial alphabet soup gets more crowded | MSRB developing proposal on markups, markdowns | SEC adopts swaps registration, proposes waivers | U.S. regulators step up scrutiny of debt-fund liquidity | Binge Reading Disorder
Friday, August 7, 2015
RRP, IOER, MBS, EEK!
Financial alphabet soup gets more crowded
(Aug 5) There's a new player in the repo market and it could affect millions of U.S. home loans. Expansion of the Fed's overnight reverse repo agreements (overnight RRPs) bears watching since it could have implications for the wider financial system and even millions of American mortgages. Market participants, including the Fed, have long worried about the new RRPs potential to "crowd out" the private repo market. 
Markups, markdowns
MSRB developing proposal

(Aug 3) The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board directed its staff to prepare a second proposal requiring dealers to provide pricing reference information for municipal securities transactions on retail customer confirmations. The board also directed staff to develop a rule proposal on changes to MSRB Rule G-12, on uniform practice, to address outdated requirements for close-out procedures for dealers purchasing municipal securities.
SEC adopts swaps registration
Proposes waivers
(Aug 5) The SEC unanimously adopted a rule to create a registration process for security-based swap dealers and participants that would subject them to SEC regulations, inspections and examinations. The agency also proposed a waiver process that would allow security-based swap entities to associate with other parties that have been subject to statutory disqualifications.
Debt-fund liquidity

SEC, Fed said to step up scrutiny

(Aug 6) The Securities Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve have been asking money managers about their ability to meet daily redemption requests from investors. The regulators are particularly concerned that funds that invest in the most difficult-to-sell securities may struggle if the bond rally ends and investors seek to withdraw their money all at once.
Binge reading disorder
Hand-curated, chosen with love
  • Tired of Rosé? Eight Great Other Wines to Drink in the Summer Sun (Bloomberg)
  • How Dare You Say That! The Evolution of Profanity (WSJ)
  • A Sense Of Self: What Happens When Your Brain Says You Don't Exist (NPR)
  • Winners of the 2015 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest (The Atlantic)
  • That 'Useless' Liberal Arts Degree Has Become Tech's Hottest Ticket (Forbes)
Transparency.
Inclusiveness.
Consensus.