Financial Reform

===

this node lost? see Dodd-frank frank-dodd

important from a systemic pov, since casino capitalism dereg led to Gt R/Depression

but reforms mild and not really implemented?  fewer to big to fail banks than before?

acid test for whether self correction is possible, since in the interest npi of banks? (long term)

=<a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/12/its-a-wonderful-life-for-bankers/">https://www.alternet.org/2019/12/its-a-wonderful-life-for-bankers/</a>no lnx
‘It’s a Wonderful Life’… for bankers
Written by Christopher W. Shaw / Common Dreams December 27, 2019
Christmas movies provide a yearly opportunity to imagine a more caring society.  Among the favorites that are watched year after year, It’s a Wonderful Life stands out for stressing the importance of banking to such a society.  The film’s hero George Bailey is an honest and generous Main Street banker who has helped struggling working people achieve their dreams of homeownership.  Yet Bailey is on the brink of committing suicide before discovering just how much his life has meant to the local community. On this fateful night, an alternative future is revealed in which Bailey never existed, and his beloved hometown of Bedford Falls has fallen into the clutches of the greedy Henry Potter, owner of the town’s largest bank and a man who cares nothing for the public welfare.  Without Bailey to finance the hopes and aspirations of his neighbors, Potter has created an unrecognizable town that is defined by corruption, slum housing, pawn shops, and seedy bars.While we often consign the subject of finance to bankers, the annual tradition of watching It’s a Wonderful Life serves as an unexpected reminder of just how much power finance exerts over all of our lives.  The figures of Bailey and Potter represent contrasting models for how banking can be conducted.  Bailey’s bank is an asset to Bedford Falls, while Potter’s bank exploits the community. Bailey’s bank provides depositors with safety and makes affordable loans available to working people, while Potter’s bank focuses solely on benefiting its owner.  Potter will fund only those projects that produce the most profit for himself, and he has no regard for the impact his decisions have on others.It’s a Wonderful Life may be fiction, yet its release in 1946 registered a half-century long struggle to make banking democratic.  During the Gilded Age, when working people thought of bankers they envisioned Henry Potter. Americans were more likely to see J. P. Morgan as a personification of greed than to honor his business achievements.  Such economic disasters as the Panic of 1907 and the Great Depression exposed the banking system’s flaws, inspiring everyday Americans to engage in regular discussions of financial policy and proposed banking reforms.  All too frequently, small depositors lost their life’s savings in bank failures that resulted from mismanagement and even fraud. And banks typically declined to extend the affordable small loans necessary for homeownership and operating farms.
For decades, working people sought to have the national government make banks safer and loans more accessible.  Labor union and farm organization meetingsroutinely backed these reforms. The residents of one Nebraska town declared their support for federal farm loans “at a low rate of interest.”  Among the voices that promoted the idea that government should guarantee bank deposits was the Chicago Federation of Labor, which insisted such a program would be “comprehensive and effective.”  Meanwhile, bankers vehemently opposed these policy proposals as government overreach.
Amid the severe economic crisis and banking meltdown of the early 1930s—when thousands of banks failed—grassroots agitation for financial reform produced mailbags filled with letters and telegrams demanding government action.  In response to the constituent mail piling up on Capitol Hill and at the White House, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal reformed the banking system so that it better served ordinary citizens. Roosevelt signed a law creating the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to protect bank depositors.  The New Deal also introduced important measures that provided farmers and homeowners with reliable supplies of low-cost credit.
Thanks to New Deal financial reform, by the 1940s bankers started looking less like Henry Potter and more like George Bailey.  Grassroots engagement with financial issues had made banking more humane. For the first time in American history, bank failures became rare events.  Farmers benefited from easier access to credit and homeownership would rise significantly. Once achieved, however, ordinary citizens started to take this reformed financial order for granted.  Working people began to neglect financial issues following World War II, leaving an opening for industry lobbyists to direct banking policy. By the close of the twentieth century, deregulation had allowed the Potters of the banking world to resume their former practices. The economic crisis of 2008 led many Americans to consider the degree that their nation has come to look less like Bedford Falls and more like Pottersville. When voters cheer on Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren for criticizing Wall Street, it’s a call to bring back George Bailey.
Christopher W. Shaw is the author of Money, Power, and the People: The American Struggle to Make Banking Democratic (University of Chicago Press, 2019). Follow him on Twitter: @chris_w_shaw.<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?457500-1/bankers-bailouts-struggle-tame-wall-street" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.c-span.org/video/?457500-1/bankers-bailouts-struggle-tame-wall-street</a>2/19<h1 class="video-page-title" itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Bankers, Bailouts, and the Struggle to Tame Wall Street</h1><div class="initial" style="font-size: small; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.3; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Kathleen Day talked about her book, Bankers, Bailouts, and the Struggle to Tame Wall Street, in which she provides a history of the federal government’s oversight of the financial sector.</div> 5/18public citvote no on the House version of Senate Bill 2155. U.S. House of Representatives votes on the Bank Lobbyist Act — a major rollback of the Wall Street reforms enacted after the 2008 financial crash.

<a rel="noreferrer" target="blank" href="http://qz.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=NDZpcENq8b227%2BRI%2FP7uOFUiSkeI1mxE">Tell your representative to vote “NO."</a>

To overcome Congress' proclivity to deliver on the demands of their Wall Street donors, we need substantial public outrage.

<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://qz.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Syoc7jkAveYPcNQxc5CBUlUiSkeI1mxE">Take action now to kill this bill.</a>

If passed, the Bank Lobbyist Act would:<ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li>Allow banks to engage in the kind of risky behavior that caused the 2008 financial crash;</li></ul><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li>Make taxpayer-funded bailouts more likely;</li></ul><ul style=""><li style="">Exempt 25 of the nation’s largest banks from needed oversight;</li></ul><ul style=""><li style="">Drastically reduce reporting of racial discrimination in mortgage lending;</li></ul><ul style=""><li style="">Encourage manipulative sales tactics on certain housing, and more.</li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">---</li></ul><div>---</div><div>Sponsor: <a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/michael-crapo/C000880" style="">Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID]</a> | Cosponsor statistics: 26 current - includes 19 original</div><div>co sponsor 12dems</div><div>
</div><div><table class="item_table" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem; border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; width: 824px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><tbody><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/joe-donnelly/D000607" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Donnelly, Joe [D-IN]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/heidi-heitkamp/H001069" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Heitkamp, Heidi [D-ND]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/jon-tester/T000464" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/mark-warner/W000805" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/bob-corker/C001071" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Corker, Bob [R-TN]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/tim-scott/S001184" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Scott, Tim [R-SC]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/tom-cotton/C001095" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/mike-rounds/R000605" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/claire-mccaskill/M001170" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. McCaskill, Claire [D-MO]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/david-perdue/P000612" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Perdue, David [R-GA]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/joe-manchin/M001183" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Manchin, Joe, III [D-WV]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/thomas-tillis/T000476" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Tillis, Thom [R-NC]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/angus-king/K000383" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/john-kennedy/K000393" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/timothy-kaine/K000384" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/jerry-moran/M000934" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/gary-peters/P000595" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Peters, Gary C. [D-MI]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/james-risch/R000584" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/michael-bennet/B001267" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO]*</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">11/16/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/dean-heller/H001041" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Heller, Dean [R-NV]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">12/06/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/christopher-coons/C001088" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">12/06/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/roy-blunt/B000575" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Blunt, Roy [R-MO]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">12/06/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/thomas-carper/C000174" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Carper, Thomas R. [D-DE]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">12/06/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/ben-sasse/S001197" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Sasse, Ben [R-NE]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">02/15/2018</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/doug-jones/J000300" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Jones, Doug [D-AL]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">02/15/2018</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/jim-inhofe/I000024" style="background-color: transparent;">Sen. Inhofe, James M. [R-OK]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">03/19/2018</td></tr></tbody></table></div><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 2em; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;">"Main Street Growth Project" Goes to Bat for Giant Financial Institutions</h2>A $100,000 grant also helped flush out a previously unknown entity called the <a href="http://m-s-g-p.org/about-us/" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">Main Street Growth Project</a>. The grassrootsy website says the group is working on behalf of regular checking-account holders, small businesses, small investors and community banks to fight the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), an oversight body created by Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill.But those "regular checking-account holders" should have $50 billion or more to catch the "Main Street Growth Project's" attention. The policies that the "Main Street" group is working on would largely affect the massive financial institutions that meet the threshold for a "systemically important financial institution" and trigger extra regulatory scrutiny under Dodd-Frank.During the 2008 financial crisis behemoth institutions like insurer AIG helped create the crisis and spread the contagion around the globe by peddling dangerous derivatives products, but because they were not regulated like banks (which can be taken over and dissolved by the FDIC), the federal government struggled to resolve the serious threats posed to the economy by the collapse of AIG.Part of the solution was to create an uber-oversight body authorized to break apart or even shut down massive financial institutions threatening the U.S. and global economy called the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). While the Main Street Growth website presents the FSOC board members as random Obama appointees, in fact<a href="http://www.treasury.gov/initiatives/fsoc/Pages/home.aspx" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;"> it includes </a>the most powerful financial regulators in the country, including the Secretary of the Treasury, the Fed Chair, and the heads of the SEC, FDIC, CFTC, OCC and more.Main Street Growth Project was started by former Romney and Paul Ryan staffers as well as AEI's Paul Wallison <a href="http://m-s-g-p.org/about-us/" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">to help institutions fight </a>the "systemically important financial institution" designation. They comfort asset managers: "You didn't cause the financial crisis. But now you're getting caught in the regulatory crossfire. We're here to help."Today, <a href="http://www.salon.com/2015/11/17/the_gops_devious_wall_street_welfare_plan_why_the_future_of_the_economy_hangs_in_the_balance/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">as David Dayen reports</a>, the roll back of the modest Dodd-Frank protections against another financial collapse is still priority number one for the GOP Congress. Among other attacks on the bill, the GOP wants "to raise the asset threshold for automatically labeling a 'systemically important financial institution' (SIFI) from $50 billion to $500 billion, giving big firms relief from expanded regulation under Dodd-Frank. They would also give existing SIFIs ways to wiggle out of the designation."<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 2em; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;">Backing ALEC Candidates</h2>=http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/05/major-financial-players-lobby-around-obamas-investment-rules<h1 class="entry-title" style="margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px; line-height: 38px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Major Financial Players Lobby Around Obama’s Investment Rules</h1><div class="entry-content" style="margin: 5px 0px; word-wrap: break-word; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Article" itemref="comments" style="margin: 5px 0px;"><div itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 5px 0px;">In the months since President Obama announced his support for new retirement investment rules that would stop advisers from pushing high-fee plans on small-fry American investors, several major financial organizations have lobbied hard on a bill that would undermine the commander in chief’s agenda, according to recently released lobbying records for the first quarter of the year.The White House put its weight behind the rules change in February, but it wasn’t until early last month that the Department of Labor <a href="http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/ebsa/EBSA20150655.htm" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">announced</a> the start of the official public comment period. In the meantime, a bill — supported by Republicans in the House and listed in lobbying reports of major financial players like <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000172" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">MetLife</a> and <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000019743" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Wells Fargo</a> — <a href="http://wagner.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-wagner-statement-on-the-introduction-of-the-retail-investor" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">was introduced</a> that would bar Labor from doing anything on the rules front until the Securities and Exchange Commission takes a crack at regulation in this area first.At the heart of the debate is whether or not current standards and definitions in the 41-year-old <a href="http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/health-plans/erisa.htm" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Employee Retirement Income Security Act</a> adequately address a retirement investment landscape that has changed drastically in four decades. According to the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/02/23/what-you-need-know-about-retirement-conflicts-interest-three-big-sentences" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">White House</a>, current rules lead to conflicts of interest for the advisers trusted to help consumers sock money away for their golden years.Currently, investment advisers only need to show people “suitable” investment options, defined as ones that match clients’ <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-02-23/obama-to-lead-push-to-toughen-broker-rules-for-retirement-funds" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">needs and their risk tolerance</a> — not necessarily ones that will maximize their clients’ long-term earnings. That leaves the advisers with the opportunity to recommend high-fee plans that reward their firms and give them back-door benefits while taking away from the client.A White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/02/23/fact-sheet-middle-class-economics-strengthening-retirement-security-crac" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">fact sheet</a> shows how small investment drops can turn into chasms. On average, conflicts of interest lead to a one percent smaller annual return for retirement investors — a slice that translates to $17 billion a year cut out of middle and working class family retirement accounts.Opponents to the president’s rules say that those fees are what make the system work: Higher fees for smaller accounts are the incentive to draw investment advisers to the small individual market and away from big corporate accounts that have much bigger payouts.At any rate, Rep. <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00033106&cycle=2014" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Ann Wagner</a> (R-Mo.), who introduced the bill to slow down the rules, is certainly a fan favorite for big finance money.In the 2014 cycle, the top two donor bases for Wagner’s campaign committee and leadership PAC were the securities and investment industry (Wall Street) followed by the insurance industry. These two combined put together more than half a million dollars for Wagner, which is a little more than one-fifth of what she raised for the cycle.Some of her top donors reported lobbying on the bill, too. <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000343" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Northwestern Mutual</a> was her second biggest donor, and Wells Fargo was 17th. Northwestern gave her $59,100 and lobbyists employed by the life insurance company kicked in an additional $1,300. Wells Fargo gave $19,500.Other financial players with huge lobbying tabs — and campaign contribution shadows — also mentioned the bill in their first quarter reports. Among them were<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000414" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Charles Schwab</a>, the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000152" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">American Council of Life Insurers</a>, the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00333104" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries</a>, and <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000022084" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Lincoln National</a>. All together, those companies — along with the many others that lobbied the bill — spend millions of dollars lobbying the federal government every year and quarter on a variety of issues.That only Republicans have so far signed on to Wagner’s legislation makes sense considering the organizations lobbying the bill. In the last two cycles, Republicans were preferred by the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/totals.php?cycle=2014&ind=F" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">financial sector</a>, taking in 62 percent of its contributions to candidates and party committees in the 2014 cycle and 70 percent of the small amount given so far in the 2016 cycle.Compared to that D.C. presence, the collection of groups on the other side of the bill was small (then again, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">everything</a> is small compared to Wall Street and finance in the D.C. money game). Two that did list the bill in the first quarter were the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000088" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">AFL-CIO</a>— the association of labor unions that admittedly spends a lot of money in Washington — and the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=F2239&year=2015" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Pension Rights Center</a>. The AFL spent $640,000 in the first three months of 2015; in each of the last two years it has laid out more than $5 million. The Pension Rights Center spent $15,000 in the most recent quarter and in both of the last two years spent $120,000.</div></div></div><footer class="entry-meta" style="line-height: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
Categories: <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/category/politicians-elections/congressional-elections/" rel="category tag" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Congressional Elections</a> <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/category/influence-lobbying/industries/finance/" rel="category tag" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Finance</a> <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/category/issues-and-legislation/" rel="category tag" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Issues and Legislation</a> <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/category/influence-lobbying/industries/labor-1/" rel="category tag" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Labor</a> <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/category/influence-lobbying/lobbying/" rel="category tag" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Lobbying</a></footer>==

2/15

fight shifts to CFPB warrren

The Consumer Coalition's top issues, Wise says, are reforming the CFPB to weaken its power; <a href="http://www.saveuber.com/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 0, 0);">"saving" Uber</a>, the popular ride-dispatching app; and attacking <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/benghazi-gun-scandal-issa-operation-choke-point" style="text-decoration: none; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 0, 0);">Operation Chokepoint</a>, a Department of Justice program intended to force banks to close accounts of businesses they suspect of committing fraud. In June, the Consumer Coalition <a href="http://www.politico.com/huddle/0514/huddle13960.html" style="text-decoration: none; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 0, 0);">announced</a> plans to run a $3 million to $5 million campaign to tear apart Operation Chokepoint, including $1 million in paid ads. Last summer, the group hired Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, as a <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/07/24/newt-gingrich-fights-operation-choke-hold-in-paid-role/" style="text-decoration: none; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 0, 0);">paid adviser</a>; he now gives closed-door speeches at DC steakhouses attacking Operation Chokepoint.

But the Consumer Coalition's interests don't make it any easier to decipher who's funding it. Wise—who admitted that corporate donors and "people who have interest in the industries" backed the group—denied that "any financial institution" was involved in paying its bills. Uber isn't funding it either, he says. The porn industry and the NRA, which have both been critical of Operation Chokepoint, haven't chipped in, either, according to Wise....

===

10/14 pro publ

Last week, I visited an alternate universe. The real world sees a pandemic of bank misconduct, but to the white-collar defense lawyers of Washington, the banks are the victims as they bow beneath the weight of regulators' remarkably harsh punishments.

I was attending the <a href="http://www.securitiesenforcement.com/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Securities Enforcement Forum</a>, a gathering of top regulators and white-collar defense worthies. The marquee section was a panel that included Andrew Ceresney, the current S.E.C. enforcement director, and five of his predecessors. Four of those former S.E.C. officials represent corporations at prominent white-collar law firms: Robert S. Khuzami, President Obama's first enforcement director who now plies his trade at Kirkland & Ellis; Linda Chatman Thomsen, who served at the George W. Bush-era S.E.C. and now works for Davis Polk & Wardwell; William R. McLucas, the longest-serving agency enforcement director who is now at WilmerHale; and George S. Canellos, who just left the Obama S.E.C. to work for Milbank Tweed. (The well-known Stanley Sporkin, who served in the agency in the 1970s, rounded the panel out.)

==

redux cdswaps on rental/foreclosures OMG

===

tiny tax on transactions:  <a href="http://www.alternet.org/economy/untaxed-americans-speculators-hustlers-and-freeloaders-wall-street">http://www.alternet.org/economy/untaxed-americans-speculators-hustlers-and-freeloaders-wall-street</a>

===

<div class="yiv406723445item-hed" style="line-height: 22px; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px; outline: none; zoom: 1; font-weight: bold;"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://click.lists.propublica.net/?qs=8d6ba8ef34fe3ad21cbc3f664348e8ed9ca1763cec85bdd044a072f8ff9fcd5a" style="text-decoration: none; line-height: 1.2em; outline: none;">When Regulation Threatens, Bankers Predict Doom For Main Street</a></div>

<div class="yiv406723445item-hed" style=" margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px; outline: none; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://click.lists.propublica.net/?qs=8d6ba8ef34fe3ad21cbc3f664348e8ed9ca1763cec85bdd044a072f8ff9fcd5a">http://click.lists.propublica.net/?qs=8d6ba8ef34fe3ad21cbc3f664348e8ed9ca1763cec85bdd044a072f8ff9fcd5a</a></div>

<div>

</div>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

===

<table class="lobbyFirm" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; line-height: 20.2125px;"><tbody style="border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><tr><td class="healthNo" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">20 clients</td><td class="healthInfo" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">

<h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 1.33em; letter-spacing: -0.047em;">Clark Lytle & Geduldig</h2>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Billed clients $1.26 million</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Firm’s <a href="http://www.clarklytlegeduldig.com/sam-geduldig.php" title="Sam Geduldig" style="text-decoration: none;">Sam Geduldig</a> is former political director for House Minority Leader John Boehner.</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Clients included American Bankers Association, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Ernst & Young.</li>

</ul>

</td></tr><tr><td class="healthNo" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">19 clients</td><td class="healthInfo" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">

<h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 1.33em; letter-spacing: -0.047em;">Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP</h2>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Billed clients $3.42 million</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Firm’s <a href="http://www.bhfs.com/People/mlevy" title="Michael Levy" style="text-decoration: none;">Michael Levy</a> is former senior aide to then-Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Clients included Electronic Payments Association, Western Union, Ace Cash Express.</li>

</ul>

</td></tr><tr><td class="healthNo" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">18 clients</td><td class="healthInfo" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">

<h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 1.33em; letter-spacing: -0.047em;">Ogilvy Government Relations</h2>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Billed clients $6.78 million</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Firm’s <a href="http://www.ogilvygr.com/who/aguillen.cfm" title="Dean Aguillen" style="text-decoration: none;">Dean Aguillen</a> is former senior adviser to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Clients included Constellation Energy, American Petroleum Institute, Electric Power Supply Association.</li>

</ul>

</td></tr><tr><td class="healthNo" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">17 clients</td><td class="healthInfo" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">

<h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 1.33em; letter-spacing: -0.047em;">Peck, Madigan, Jones & Stewart, Inc.</h2>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Billed clients $4.50 million</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Firm’s <a href="http://jmp-dc.com/professionals/jones.html" title="Jonathon Jones" style="text-decoration: none;">Jonathon Jones</a> is ex-chief of staff to Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del.</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Clients included U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Harley-Davidson Financial Services, and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.</li>

</ul>

<h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 1.33em; letter-spacing: -0.047em;">Rich Feuer Group</h2>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Billed clients $3.85 million</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Firm’s <a href="http://rfgdc.com/index.php?to=information" title="Mitchell Feuer" style="text-decoration: none;">Mitchell Feuer</a> is former counsel to Senate Banking Committee.</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Clients included Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Barclays, and Citigroup Management Corporation.</li>

</ul>

</td></tr><tr><td class="healthNo" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">15 clients</td><td class="healthInfo" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">

<h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 1.33em; letter-spacing: -0.047em;">Williams & Jensen, PLLC</h2>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Billed clients $2.46 million</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Firm’s <a href="http://www.williamsandjensen.com/principals.asp?id=13" title="Joel Oswald" style="text-decoration: none;">Joel Oswald</a> is former Republican staffer on Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee’s securities and investment subcommittee.</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Clients included Managed Funds Association, TD Ameritrade, and The Vanguard Group.</li>

</ul>

<h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 1.33em; letter-spacing: -0.047em;">Quinn Gillespie & Associates, LLC</h2>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Billed clients $3.75 million</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Firm’s <a href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,107796,00.html" title="Jack Quinn" style="text-decoration: none;">Jack Quinn</a> is former White House counsel to President Bill Clinton, later won a pardon for financial fugitive Marc Rich.</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Clients included BlackRock, Inc., Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, and MetLife.</li>

</ul>

<h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 1.33em; letter-spacing: -0.047em;">Elmendorf Strategies, LLC</h2>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Billed clients $1.49 million</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><a href="http://www.elmendorfstrategies.com/professionals.php" title="Steve Elmendorf" style="text-decoration: none;">Steve Elmendorf</a> served as a senior advisor to former House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt.</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Clients included Ford Motor Co., Ernst & Young LLP, and TIAA-CREF.</li>

</ul>

</td></tr><tr><td class="healthNo" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">14 clients</td><td class="healthInfo" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">

<h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 1.33em; letter-spacing: -0.047em;">Venable LLP</h2>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Billed clients $1.50 million</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Firm’s <a href="http://www.venable.com/william-j-donovan/" title="William Donovan" style="text-decoration: none;">William Donovan</a> is former chief lobbyist for National Association of Federal Credit Unions and has lobbied on financial issues since 1976.</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Clients included ING Bank, FSB, Hilton and Direct Marketing Association.</li>

</ul>

</td></tr><tr><td class="healthNo" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">13 clients</td><td class="healthInfo" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">

<h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 1.33em; letter-spacing: -0.047em;">Smith-Free Group</h2>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Billed clients $1.61 million</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Firm’s <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/rev_summary.php?id=21668" title="Andrew Barbour" style="text-decoration: none;">Andrew Barbour</a> is former lobbyist for Financial Services Roundtable and former aide to Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich.</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Clients included Financial Services Roundtable, MasterCard Worldwide, and Bank of America.</li>

</ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

===

Overall Visits

Top 5 Big Banks

Goldman Sachs — 181

JPMorgan Chase — 175

Morgan Stanley — 150

Bank of America — 122

Citigroup — 102

Reform Groups

Consumer Federation of America — 34

Americans for Financial Reform — 32

By Agency

Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) — 683 meetings
Treasury Department — 447 meetings
Federal Reserve — 410 meetings

The Fed Meetings

The Federal Reserve received visits from big banks the most. Fed officials met bank representatives 393 times, and JPMorgan Chase led the list with 70 meetings. The top meeting topics included: interchange fees (110), derivatives (100) and the Volcker Rule (83).

Treasury Meetings

For reform groups, they met Treasury Department officials the most: 145 times. Yet, big banks and their associations still had the most overall meetings at 302, and JPMorgan Chase once again led the list with 52 meetings. Conversations around the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau dominated the meetings, with 194 mentions in meeting logs for all parties.

CFTC Meetings

Meetings at the Commodities Futures Trading Commission for big banks were 603, including 105 by Goldman Sachs, compared to 80 for all reform-oriented groups. The most discussed topics were: swap execution facilities registration (231), position limits (210) and real-time reporting (141). sunlight

===

<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Portal:Real_Economy_Project">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Portal:Real_Economy_Project</a>

wiki:

The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-111publ203/content-detail.html">Pub.L. 111-203</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.111hr4173">H.R. 4173</a>) is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_United_States#Federal_law" title="Law of the United States">federal statute</a> in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a> that was signed into law by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States" title="President of the United States">President</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama" title="Barack Obama">Barack Obama</a> on July 21, 2010.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#cite_note-actions-0">[1]</a> The Act implements <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_reform" title="Wall Street reform">financial regulatory reform</a> sponsored by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_%28United_States%29" title="Democratic Party (United States)">Democratically</a> controlled <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/111th_United_States_Congress" title="111th United States Congress">111th United States Congress</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obama_administration" title="Obama administration" class="mw-redirect">Obama administration</a>. Passed as a response to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late-2000s_recession" title="Late-2000s recession" class="mw-redirect">late-2000s recession</a>, the Act brought the most significant changes to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_regulation" title="Financial regulation">financial regulation</a> in the United States since the regulatory reform that followed the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression" title="Great Depression">Great Depression</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#cite_note-1">[2]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#cite_note-2">[3]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#cite_note-3">[4]</a> representing a significant change in the American financial regulatory environment affecting all Federal financial regulatory agencies and almost every aspect of the nation's financial services industry.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#cite_note-4">[5]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#cite_note-5">[6]</a> As with other major financial reforms, some legal and financial scholars on both sides of the political spectrum have criticized the law, arguing on the one hand that the reforms were insufficient to prevent another financial crisis or additional "bail outs" of financial institutions, and on the other hand that the reforms went too far and would unduly restrict the ability of banks and other financial institutions to make loans.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#cite_note-Simkovic_Competition-6">[7]</a>

In addition to the headline regulatory changes covering <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_investment" title="Capital investment" class="mw-redirect">capital investment</a> by banks and insurance companies, the Act introduces new regulation of hedge funds and private equity funds, alters the definition of accredited investors, requires reporting by all public companies on CEO to median employee pay ratios and other compensation data, enforces equitable access to credit for consumers, and provides incentives to promote banking among low- and medium-income residents.

The law was initially proposed by the Obama Administration in June 2009, when the White House sent a series of proposed bills to Congress. A version of the legislation was introduced in the House in July 2009. On December 2, 2009, revised versions were introduced in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.House_of_Representatives" title="U.S. House of Representatives" class="mw-redirect">House of Representatives</a> by Financial Services Committee Chairman <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_Frank" title="Barney Frank">Barney Frank</a>, and in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_Committee_on_Banking,Housing,_and_Urban_Affairs" title="United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs">Senate Banking Committee</a> by Chairman <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Dodd" title="Chris Dodd">Chris Dodd</a>. Due to their involvement with the bill, the conference committee that reported on June 25, 2010,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#cite_note-actions-0">[1]</a> voted to name the bill after the two members of Congress.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#cite_note-7">[8]</a>

<h2>Contents</h2>

</div>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Origins_and_proposal">1 Origins and proposal</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Legislative_response_and_passage">2 Legislative response and passage</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Overview">3 Overview</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Provisions">4 Provisions</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Title_I_.E2.80.93_Financial_Stability">4.1 Title I – Financial Stability</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-18"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Title_II_.E2.80.93_Orderly_Liquidation_Authority">4.2 Title II – Orderly Liquidation Authority</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-23"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Title_III_.E2.80.93_Transfer_of_Powers_to_the_Comptroller.2C_the_FDIC.2C_and_the_Fed">4.3 Title III – Transfer of Powers to the Comptroller, the FDIC, and the Fed</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-24"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Title_IV_.E2.80.93_Regulation_of_Advisers_to_Hedge_Funds_and_Others">4.4 Title IV – Regulation of Advisers to Hedge Funds and Others</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-25"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Title_V_.E2.80.93_Insurance">4.5 Title V – Insurance</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-28"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Title_VI_.E2.80.93_Improvements_to_Regulation">4.6 Title VI – Improvements to Regulation</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-31"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Title_VII_.E2.80.93_Wall_Street_Transparency_and_Accountability">4.7 Title VII – Wall Street Transparency and Accountability</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-32"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Title_VIII_.E2.80.93_Payment.2C_Clearing_and_Settlement_Supervision">4.8 Title VIII – Payment, Clearing and Settlement Supervision</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-33"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Title_IX_.E2.80.93_Investor_Protections_and_Improvements_to_the_Regulation_of_Securities">4.9 Title IX – Investor Protections and Improvements to the Regulation of Securities</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-44"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Title_X_.E2.80.93_Bureau_of_Consumer_Financial_Protection">4.10 Title X – Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-45"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Title_XI_.E2.80.93_Federal_Reserve_System_Provisions">4.11 Title XI – Federal Reserve System Provisions</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-48"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Title_XII_.E2.80.93_Improving_Access_to_Mainstream_Financial_Institutions">4.12 Title XII – Improving Access to Mainstream Financial Institutions</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-49"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Title_XIII_.E2.80.93_Pay_It_Back_Act">4.13 Title XIII – Pay It Back Act</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-50"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Title_XIV_.E2.80.93_Mortgage_Reform_and_Anti-Predatory_Lending_Act">4.14 Title XIV – Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-59"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Title_XV_.E2.80.93_Miscellaneous_Provisions">4.15 Title XV – Miscellaneous Provisions</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-66"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Title_XVI_.E2.80.93_Section_1256_Contracts">4.16 Title XVI – Section 1256 Contracts</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-67"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Impact_and_reaction">5 Impact and reaction</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-68"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Legislative_reaction">5.1 Legislative reaction</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-69"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Industry_and_other_groups">5.2 Industry and other groups</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-70"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Congressional_Budget_Office">5.3 Congressional Budget Office</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-71"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Job_creation">5.4 Job creation</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-72"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Effects_on_free_checking">5.5 Effects on free checking</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-74"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#Notes">7 Notes</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-75"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd%E2%80%93Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act#External_links">8 External links</a></li>

</ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

</div>

===

hmm:

<h1 property="dc.title">Five myths about Dodd-Frank</h1>

<h3 property="dc.creator">By Christopher J. Dodd, Published: October 21, 2011</h3>

After a worldwide financial meltdown — and a $700 billion taxpayer-funded bailout — the need for common-sense financial reforms was clear. But now, even though the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (known as Dodd-Frank, after Rep. Barney Frank and me, its sponsors) is only beginning to take effect, critics are launching false attacks against the law in an effort to undermine it. Whether they are intentionally misleading or just misguided, they are wrong about the law’s purpose and impact

1. Dodd-Frank is deepening the economic slowdown.

Critics who charge that the law is aggravating the recession have forgotten where our economic woes came from in the first place.

The 2008 financial crisis was devastating: Banks stopped lending to one another, the credit market froze, and our largest financial institutions neared collapse. Had Dodd-Frank been in place, the damage could have been contained. Instead, the financial crisis sparked a recession, cost Americans millions of jobs and trillions of dollars in savings, forced small businesses to close and drove homeowners into foreclosure.

Today, other challenges complicate our recovery:<a data-xslt="_http" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/sales-of-previously-occupied-homes-fell-in-september-on-pace-to-match-10-dismal-figures/2011/10/20/gIQADNmO0L_story.html"> Our housing market is slumping</a>, a gaping budget deficit threatens America’s fiscal future, and a sovereign debt crisis hangs over the world. But Dodd-Frank didn’t create these challenges.

Meanwhile, even though only 10 percent of Dodd-Frank’s provisions have been implemented so far, critics claim that the law perpetuates “job-killing uncertainty.” In fact, it was the uncertainty inherent in a non-transparent and reckless financial system that made Dodd-Frank necessary in the first place.

The truth is that this catastrophe was years in the making — caused by regulatory neglect and Wall Street gambling. We can’t expect to rebuild our prosperity overnight, but we can’t rebuild it at all if we let false political talking points undermine our efforts to restore confidence in our financial system.

2. Dodd-Frank hurts small businesses and community banks.

.The law is squarely aimed at better regulating the largest and most complex Wall Street firms — the ones that were most responsible for the crisis and still present the most risk.

Small community banks were victims of the crisis, with <a data-xslt="http" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/regulators-shut-down-small-banks-in-georgia-north-carolina-makes-77-bank-failures-this-year/2011/10/14/gIQAV8xckL_story.html">hundreds failing </a>as a result of the big banks’ risky gambles. That’s why they came to Congress and asked us to modernize and strengthen financial regulations, leveling the playing field against the shadow banking industry — entities such as <a data-xslt="http" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/09/AR2010050902458.html">payday lenders </a>and mortgage brokers that had been created to avoid regulation.

In one of the recent GOP debates, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said that Dodd-Frank is “a killer for the small banks.” In fact, community banks, which were not responsible for the crisis, will pay lower premiums for deposit insurance and continue to work with their existing regulators. And in a nation with more than 6,000 banks, the bulk of the bill’s new regulations apply only to a few dozen of the largest ones, each holding more than $50 billion in assets.

Many community banks are concerned that regulators such as the FDIC have become overzealous. But that is a product of the post-crisis environment and not a result of this law, which, by design, will help community banks continue to serve as a lifeline to small businesses.

3. Dodd-Frank failed to truly reform Wall Street.

The protests about the law emanating from Wall Street tell you all you need to know about this claim.

Dodd-Frank fundamentally transformed our financial system. It requires banks to keep more capital on hand as a buffer against bad loans. It establishes a process for unwinding firms if they fail — and prohibits the Federal Reserve from bailing them out. It brings more transparency and accountability to the $600 trillionderivatives market. It shuts down ineffective regulators and insists that the remaining ones share information to expose the next financial trouble spots. And it finally establishes a single agency whose mission is to protect consumers.

This all adds up to a systematic overhaul of a regulatory structure that hadn’t been sufficiently updated since the 1930s. Much still needs to be done to ensure that the law succeeds: Regulators must implement reforms aggressively, and Congress must continue to provide vigorous oversight. But Dodd-Frank is a comprehensive solution to a comprehensive problem.

4. Congress didn’t fix Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

There are two issues to address here: the financial problems at Fannie and Freddie, and the future of mortgage finance in America.

Congress addressed the first — not with Dodd-Frank, but before the crisis, when the George W. Bush administration asked us to take on the issue. I worked with Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and with Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) to pass bipartisan legislation creating a regulator with real teeth. That law gave the government the authority to put Fannie and Freddie <a data-xslt="_http" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/07/AR2008090700259.html">into conservatorship</a>, where they remain while Congress determines how to finance mortgages in the future.

Meanwhile, in Dodd-Frank, we took aim at the riskiest practices in the housing market. Unscrupulous lenders can no longer make loans to people who they know can’t pay them back. Brokers can’t steer borrowers to higher-rate loans in exchange for compensation from lenders. And those who sell risky securities must maintain a financial stake in their success.

The problems in our housing market — as well as the debate over the future roles of Fannie and Freddie — remain complex and contentious, but they have hardly been ignored.

5. It’s time to repeal Dodd-Frank.

Imagine legislation that authorizes regulators to prop up failing institutions; makes consumer protection an afterthought once again and allows predatory lenders and other unscrupulous brokers to take advantage of vulnerable Americans; lets Wall Street banks make risky bets backed by taxpayer money; allows hedge funds to trade derivatives in secret; and prevents regulators from getting the information they need to stop another meltdown before it happens.

That’s what repealing Dodd-Frank would do.

Whether or not you agree with the law’s provisions, repealing it would return us to a time in which nobody — not consumers, not regulators, not even other banks — knew what the Wall Street gamblers were doing until it was too late. It would destroy confidence in our markets and faith in our financial system, certainly hindering our recovery. It would again leave Americans at the mercy of those who have already ripped off too many families and businesses.

In short, repealing Dodd-Frank would invite disaster, putting working families, American businesses and the global economy at risk of an even worse meltdown.

<a data-xslt="http" href="http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Christopher_J.Dodd">Christopher J. Dodd </a>, a Democratic former senator from Connecticut, served as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee from 2007 to 2010.

</div>

===

Magnetar drove the bubble

<a href="http://www.propublica.org/series/the-wall-street-money-machine">http://www.propublica.org/series/the-wall-street-money-machine</a>

===

<h1>Derivatives Lobby Has U.S. Regulators on the Run</h1>

</div>

<cite class="byline">By Roger Lowenstein </cite><cite class="byline story_time"> Apr 17, 2012 4:01 PM PT </cite>

</div>

...

<h2>Spectacular Failures</h2>

As derivatives markets grew, so did examples of spectacular failures. Merton Miller, the Nobel laureate economist, said the fiascoes were merely growing pains as users learned to “manage risks.” But the failures kept occurring, most dramatically with the 1998 meltdown of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management. The then-CFTC chairman, Brooksley Born, proposed that Washington consider regulation of off-exchange derivatives. She was shouted down by the banking lobby, ably represented by <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/robert-rubin/" density="sparse">Robert Rubin</a>, <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/larry-summers/" density="full">Larry Summers</a> and, especially, <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/alan-greenspan/" density="full">Alan Greenspan</a>, who opined that derivatives agreed to by self-interested profit seekers didn’t need regulation. The market would self-regulate.

The Greenspan philosophy was codified in the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, which cast the industry back 100 years. It forbade most regulation of swaps and, indeed, exempted swaps from century-old bucket-shop laws enacted, in a more sober spirit, to prevent storefront gambling. Since that act, the notional value of derivatives has soared from $95 trillion to more than $700 trillion.

The laissez-faire assumption is that more liquidity -- that is, more trading -- is always better. The view here is different. Derivatives that transfer risk from, say, banks to anonymous speculators also transfer credit decisions to disparate, generally less-informed players. This also occurs with bonds, but bonds are securities and regulated as such. Credit-default swaps (contracts in which speculators wager on defaults) have turned Wall Street into a giant betting parlor.

According to research by Thomas Philippon, a professor of finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business, the array of such new vehicles have not rendered financial markets more efficient; they merely permitted the financial industry to extract a higher share of the national income for “increases in trading activities whose social value is difficult to assess.”

Another study, by law professor <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/eric-posner/" density="sparse">Eric Posner</a> and economics professor Glen Weyl, both at the University of <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/chicago/" density="full">Chicago</a>, found that credit-default swaps didn’t contribute to social welfare because they didn’t improve the markets’ ability to forecast defaults. Such swaps were used mainly by speculators (few of the people trading swaps on Greek defaults actually owned Greek bonds). At least proponents of new futures contracts are required to submit a brief for their “economic purpose”; the authors propose a similar test for off-exchange derivatives....

Very likely, if industry isn’t satisfied, it will go to court. Last year, in a long overdue move, the SEC approved a rule making it easier for shareholders to nominate directors, thus infusing a smidgeon of democracy into boardrooms. The <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/business-roundtable/" density="full">Business Roundtable</a>, which represents chief executives, sued, claiming that the SEC had not properly studied the economic impact. The conservative Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found against the SEC, even though it had supplied 60 pages of analysis on the potential economic effect. The Harvard Law Review observed that the court’s “exacting review could impose a judicial blockade on complex financial rulemaking.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has made no secret of its desire to bring similar suits. The CFTC is already in court over one new rule to control speculation in futures trading; the plaintiffs, including the ISDA, charge the regulator with insufficient economic study. Now the regulators are editing themselves: On April 18, the CFTC and the SEC voted to oversee only those companies that conduct at least $8 billion in swaps a year, a much higher threshold than proposed and one that will let many a bank, hedge fund and energy company slip through their grasp.

===

Here we are, surrounded by still-smoldering financial wreckage, and almost everyone in Washington is falling over themselves to repeat exactly the same kinds of actions that got us into this mess. Last time around it was the repeal of Glass-Steagall, introduced by Republican Sen. Phil Gramm and enthusiastically signed by President Clinton in the presence of Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.

This time it's the deceptively named "JOBS Act," introduced by the far-right Republicans in Congress and passed overwhelmingly by members of both parties. The President indicated his eagerness to sign the bill early on. Once again basic protections for investors, including individuals and families, are being recklessly overturned in a deregulating frenzy. Some of those protections were enacted in the wake of the Enron scandal, in which sociopathically unscrupulous business people conducted a hoax that ruined thousands of families and deprived many of their life's savings.