SEC chief Mary Schapiro favors idea of shared regulator powers in monitoring against risk

September 16th, 2009 SEC creates new risk, strategy divisionWASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission has merged several offices and functions to create a division of risk, strategy and financial innovation. The new division will be headed by Henry T.C.

August 6th, 2009 Nasdaq to stop offering flash trading Sept. 1NEW YORK — The operator of the Nasdaq stock market said Thursday it will stop a practice that gives some brokerages a split-second advantage in buying or selling stocks.

July 25th, 2009 Schumer wants to curb traders' flash ordersSen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., has asked federal securities regulators to crack down on a high-speed computing advantage that large financial firms have over other investors.

July 23rd, 2009 SEC, FDIC heads want new council to be supercopWASHINGTON — Key regulators on Thursday broke with the Obama administration, reaffirming their belief that some new powers to monitor big institutions against financial threats should go to an interagency council, not the Federal Reserve. Some Republican lawmakers also continued to warn against endowing the Fed with new powers in an overhauled system as Congress slogs through a complex deliberation that could reshape the financial landscape in the wake of a historic crisis.

June 23rd, 2009 SEC, CFTC agree on derivatives oversightWASHINGTON — The heads of two federal agencies with financial oversight responsibilities have told Congress that their jurisdiction can be split over the instruments blamed for hastening the global economic crisis. The Securities and Exchange Commission, the government's primary markets watchdog, and the smaller Commodity Futures Trading Commission — which oversees the oversees the trading of oil, gas and other commodities — have battled in the past over regulatory turf and found separate supporters in Congress.

June 18th, 2009 Lawmakers wonder if Fed is best mega-regulatorWASHINGTON — Senior lawmakers are questioning the Obama administration's plan to task the Federal Reserve with monitoring firms deemed so big and influential that their demise could hurt the economy. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, sharply questioned Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the proposal, which he says represents a "grossly inflated view" of the Fed's expertise.

June 16th, 2009 A new role as 'risk regulator' could reshape FedWASHINGTON — The Obama administration's plan to revamp regulation and prevent any more crashes like those that felled AIG and Lehman Brothers includes a bold new idea: Empower the Federal Reserve to oversee the biggest financial players whose failure could threaten other institutions and the economy. But some lawmakers and economists say making the Fed a "systemic risk regulator" would itself be a high-stakes risk that would distract from its core mission: reviving the economy.

May 9th, 2009 AP Sources: Obama wants Fed to be finance supercopWASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve could become the supercop for "too big to fail" companies capable of causing another financial meltdown under a proposal being seriously considered by the White House. The Obama administration told industry officials on Friday that it was leaning toward making such a recommendation, according to officials who attended a private one-hour meeting between President Barack Obama's economic advisers and representatives from about a dozen banks, hedge funds and other financial groups.

May 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - When Anna Jarvis came up with the idea of Mother's Day, she had a totally different idea about how the day should be celebrated, says a source at Mary Baldwin College. The source at Jarvis' alma mater said that the founder would hate the way the day is celebrated these days, as the holiday was not meant to be celebrated by buying something for your mother, but rather by doing something for her.

May 9th, 2009 AP Sources: White House likes making Fed supercopWASHINGTON — The White House is telling industry officials it is leaning toward wanting the Federal Reserve to become the supercop for "too big to fail" companies capable of causing another financial meltdown. Officials who attended a private one-hour meeting Friday said the administration made it clear it was not inclined to divide the job among various regulatory agencies, as suggested by industry and some federal regulators.

May 6th, 2009 FDIC's Bair calls for 'systemic risk council'WASHINGTON — The head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says new powers are needed to oversee companies that pose financial risks to the economy, an authority that could be shared by the FDIC and other regulators.

May 1st, 2009 SEC considering change to CEO pay disclosure rulesNEW YORK — The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering changing a formula that critics say often allows public companies to low-ball in regulatory filings just how much top executives are paid. At issue is how companies report in a summary compensation table found in their annual proxy statements the totals for stock options and stock awards, which often make up most of top executives' pay.

April 27th, 2009 SEC chief troubled by BofA, Merrill Lynch issuesDENVER — The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday it would be "troubling" if her agency had been "deliberately excluded" from talks about Bank of America Corp.'s acquisition of Merrill Lynch. SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said she expected more details about the transaction to be divulged in the near future and emphasized the obligation to disclose information rests with companies.

March 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama's administration, in a massive overhaul of the country's financial regulatory system, is seeking the power to keep watch on all types of financial firms and to seize failing companies integral to the health of the system. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled the plans in congressional testimony on Thursday, arguing that the current financial turmoil has proven the system is 'too unstable and fragile' to be allowed to manage itself.

January 1st, 2009 CHENNAI - India's insurance watchdog Friday offered life insurers, and more particularly the private life insurers, a mega New Year gift by easing solvency norms for the third time in recent days. Solvency margin is the excess of assets that a life insurer has to maintain over its liabilities.