Financial Crisis News Center

Registered Lobbyist Contact Disclosure Form Released

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The following Registered Lobbyist Contact Disclosure Form has been released. The form is completed by executive branch employees who are contacted by registered lobbyists regarding the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. The report includes a written description of each contact, the date and time of the contact and the names of the registered lobbyists and the employees with whom the contact took place.

Independent Community Bankers of America—12/17/2009. Meeting to discuss community bank participation in the Capital Purchase Program and in newly announced TARP programs such as the small business lending program.

SEC Enhances Proxy Disclosure, Adviser Custody Rules

This story appeared in Jim Hamilton's World of Securities Regulation.

The SEC adopted rule and form changes intended to enhance the information provided in proxy solicitations and in other forms filed with the SEC. Beginning in the upcoming annual reporting and proxy season, the new rules will improve corporate disclosure regarding risk, compensation and corporate governance matters when voting decisions are made. In addition, the SEC adopted rule changes designed to substantially increase the protections for investors who turn their money and securities over to investment advisers.

SEC Commissioner Urges Policy Changes That Put Investors First

This story appeared in SEC Today

Commissioner Kathleen Casey warned against standard setting and rulemaking based on political pressure or commercial considerations in a speech to Financial Executives International. Financial reporting and accounting standard setting must focus on the needs of investors, she said. The interests of investors and other users of financial statements are often aligned, but when they are not, Casey said it would be a mistake to promote accounting standards that make financial statements less transparent for investors. Her remarks are posted on the SEC’s Web site.

Fed Audit Amendment Clears House Panel; Frank Delays Committee Vote

By Sarah Borchersen-Keto, CCH Washington News Bureau, Contributing Author, the CCH Federal Banking Law Reporter.

The House Financial Services Committee approved by 43 to 26 an amendment to broad financial reform legislation that would remove the current blanket restrictions on Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits of the Federal Reserve Board.

“This is a major victory for Federal Reserve transparency and government accountability,” said Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, a sponsor of the amendment. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., who co-sponsored the amendment, added, “the Federal Reserve has conducted secret bailouts that range in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Congress never voted on them, and the president never approved them. This cannot go on any longer.”

SEC Official Speaks on Executive Compensation Disclosure

By J. Preston Carter, J.D., LL.M., Editor, the CCH Federal Banking Law Reporter, CCH Financial Privacy Law Guide, CCH State Banking Law Reporter and Bank Digest.

Shelley Parratt, Deputy Director, Division of Corporation Finance, noted that the SEC's role in the area of executive compensation is not to regulate how companies compensate their executives, but rather to see that investors have the critical disclosure they need to make informed investment and voting decisions. In an address at the 4th Annual Proxy Disclosure Conference: Tackling Your 2010 Compensation Disclosures, in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 9, 2009, Parratt said the role of the SEC in the review process is to help companies provide investors with high-quality executive compensation disclosure. She urged attendees to “Pay attention to what the market is looking for. Your disclosure will be better if you do.”

Debate Rages on Amendment to Exempt Smaller Companies from 404(b) of Sarbanes-Oxley

This story appeared in Jim Hamilton's World of Securities Regulation

The bipartisan Garrett-Adler Amendment exempting smaller reporting companies from the internal control auditor attestation requirements contained in Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has been criticized by an SEC Commissioner even while it appears to have White House and Treasury support. The amendment is part of the Investor Protection Act that recently passed the House Financial Services Committee. The amendment’s language mirrors legislation Rep. Garrett introduced earlier this year, the Small Business SOX Compliance Relief Act, HR 3775.

Chairman Towns' Statement on Bank of America Decision Regarding Documents

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

Government Reform Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y. released a statement on Bank of America's decision regarding documents related to the Committee's investigation of the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch merger.

Fed Grants Regulatory Reporting Relief

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Federal Reserve Board has granted temporary relief from the agency’s regulatory reporting requirements for bank holding companies to CIT Group Inc., New York, N.Y. The bank holding company sough the relief so as to include information regarding its debt restructuring process in its regulatory reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Frank Circulates Draft Legislation on Consumer Financial Protection

By James Hamilton, J.D., LL.M., Principal Analyst, CCH Federal Securities Law Reporter; and CCH Derivatives Regulation Law Reporter.

House Financial Services Chair Barney Frank is circulating draft legislation establishing a new independent federal consumer financial protection agency with power to prohibit unfair and deceptive practices in connection with a consumer financial transaction for a product or service and to mandate disclosure to consumers of the costs, benefits, and risks associated with any financial product or service. Broadly, the Director of the new agency would have a legislative mandate to promote transparency, simplicity, fairness, accountability, and equal access in the market for consumer financial products or services.

Kucinich Questions Bank of America

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

“There is considerable evidence that Bank of America violated securities law in withholding from its shareholders information known to Bank of America about mounting losses at Merrill Lynch. Shareholders did not receive this information until after they voted to approve the merger. The question remains whether Bank of America executives willfully chose to violate securities laws, or received advice from outside counsel to violate the law. Resolving this question is critical to restoring the accountability of corporate management to its investors,” stated Domestic Policy Subcommittee Chairman Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, after Bank of America failed to meet a deadline to submit documents to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The Oversight Committee has requested documents about internal discussions concerning Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch.