Finance

Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, said there are too many U.S. agencies tasked with regulating banks, according to The Wall Street Journal. Read more...

Six Democratic senators want stronger regulations for the international derivatives market.

American financial institutions' overseas offices are not currently subject to the same rules as their stateside branches, though the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) proposed to grant itself the authority to govern many international derivatives deals, known as cross-border swaps, last July. 

In a letter to CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler sent on Wednesday, six senators say those standards should be strict, because actions by foreign institutions can affect the American market.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is delaying tax deadlines for people affected by the tornado that ripped through parts of Oklahoma on Monday.

The agency is pushing back a variety of business tax deadlines, including those for making estimated tax payments, business payroll and excise tax returns, for filers in five counties hit by the disaster and workers providing relief efforts. It will also work with taxpayers who live outside the area but have records or work with accountants who were affected.

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Community banks are pressing a federal consumer watchdog to wrap the bulk of their reliable mortgage products under the qualified mortgage (QM) rule to ensure they can keep up their pace of lending.

The Independent Community Bankers Association (ICBA) is specifically calling on the the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to include heavily used balloon loans into the part of the QM rule geared toward smaller lenders.

Ron Haynie, senior vice president of mortgage finance policy at ICBA, said the balloon loan issue is "really big" because of the high number of banks that make them, especially to rural and underserved areas where some customers may be unable to qualify for a loan in the secondary market. 

"We're trying to paint the picture for them that this is a big issue for community banks," he told The Hill.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is suing the Internal Revenue Service, demanding the agency change its requirements for the 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) is preparing to decide which large nonbank companies will fall under increased regulation following the Great Recession, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The chairman of the panel, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, is set to brief the Senate Banking Committee on the FSOC’s work and the state of the economy. But The National Journal reports that the focus of the hearing is likely to turn to the ongoing scandal at the Internal Revenue Service.

Net neutrality regulations could actually undermine the openness of the Internet, according to The Washington Post.

Opinion: Newly unveiled rules on hydraulic fracturing do not go far enough to ensure water supplies are protected from chemicals, The Salt Lake Tribune opines. 

Six Senate Democrats from Western states called Monday upon financial regulators to broaden forthcoming Dodd-Frank Act regulations to encompass a larger segment of energy markets.

In a letter to Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Gary Gensler, the lawmakers say proposed Dodd-Frank rules designed to increase oversight of the swaps market are insufficient.

Under the bill, the SEC would have to ensure the benefits of new rules outweigh their costs. 

The House on Friday morning took a step toward passing a bill that would require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to conduct strict cost-benefit analyses of its regulations.

Members approved a rule for H.R. 1062, the SEC Regulatory Accountability Act, in a 223-180 vote. Passage of the rule will let the House approve the bill later Friday.

A top House Republican sought Thursday to tie a contentious corporate disclosure proposal before the Securities and Exchange Commission to the IRS scandal, suggesting both reflect an overtly politicized federal government.

Financial Services Committee chairman Jeb Hensarling said the IRS’ apparent targeting of conservative groups raises questions about how pervasive “tactics of harassment” have become within the Obama administration, saying the scandal is “right out of the Watergate playbook.”

The Texas Republican, during a budget hearing, warned new SEC chairman Mary Jo White that her agency could similarly be viewed as acting in a partisan manner if it pursues a rule requiring public firms to report their political spending to shareholders.

Hensarling said the proposal “is well known to be part of a partisan political agenda of labor union bosses.”

“Now the American people are horrified at those who would use the strong arm of government for partisan political advantage, but it remains to be seen whether this could ever happen at the SEC,” Hensarling said. Read more...