The AIG Loophole and the Race to Finish FinReg

At the Huffington Post, Ryan Grim reports that Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.) are attempting to insert an insurer-friendly change into the conference committee’s version of financial regulatory reform. “The measure would exempt securities products created by insurance companies from regulation, leaving the job More…

Getting the Best of Both FinReg Bills

Mike Konczal, Roosevelt Institution fellow and the blogger known as Rortybomb, tells us how to get the best out of the House and Senate FinReg bills, focusing on a few crucial provisions:

FinReg Conference Committee Starting

The conference committee to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the financial regulatory reform bill is just minutes away from starting. Those who want to watch the televised portions can head here. I’ll turn to The American Prospect’s Tim Fernholz for a good explanation of how this More…

With Conferees Named, Dodd and Frank Set FinReg Conference Schedule

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) — the heads of the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees — have set an ambitious schedule in order to complete the financial regulatory reform process before the White House’s July 4 deadline. Yesterday afternoon, The Wall Street Journal More…

FinReg Update: Senators Push Credit Ratings Reform, Volcker Rule for Final Bill

It has been a quiet week on the financial regulatory reform front, but that does not mean the deal-making has stopped. With the House and Senate out of session this week, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) has been pushing his provision to reform the credit ratings agencies, and Sens. Jeff Merkley More…

Tween Girls: Not Like Wall Street Traders

Today, Bloomberg’s Amity Shlaes has an evocative and delightfully wrongheaded column on the best way to police and regulate markets. She cites the efforts to stamp out bad behavior on OMGPOP, a social network where tween girls play games and gossip. Naughty young men were using inappropriate language, Shlaes More…

Goldman Fears Lincoln’s Derivatives Language

Morning Money has posted a Goldman Sachs research report, and it seems the investment bank is spooked by just one thing in the financial regulatory reform bill: Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s (D-Ark.) derivatives spin-off language.

To the extent that strains in European sovereign debt and short-term money markets cause broader

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Frank Says FinReg Conference Committee Will Be Mostly Closed-Door

Sunlight is the best disinfectant. For that reason, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has endorsed airing on C-SPAN the conference committee’s negotiations, as the panel of legislators merges the House and Senate versions of financial regulatory reform. But wait! Now it seems the conference committee might not air negotiations — just More…

Frank to Head Financial Regulatory Reform Conference Committee

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) will head the conference committee charged with reconciling the House and Senate versions of financial regulatory reform. The committee is comprised of legislators who worked on the initial bills, from the Senate Banking Committee, House Financial Services Committee and Senate Agriculture committee. The Senate might name More…

On FinReg, Five Lobbyists for Every Legislator

Today, the Center for Public Integrity has a good survey of how the financial regulatory reform bill got lobbied. More than 850 banks, financial firms, hedge funds and others deployed more than 3,000 lobbyists to the Hill to argue against strong consumer financial protections and other provisions blunting risk-taking More…