Latest News Nov 20, 2009 Fed Audit Amendment Clears House Panel; Frank Delays Committee Vote Nov 19, 2009 Shelby Says Dodd Reform Proposal Requires “Complete Rewrite” Nov 19, 2009 Kanjorski Amendment Clears House Panel Nov 17, 2009 White House Creates Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force Nov 13, 2009 Congress Urged to Move Further Than Fed on Overdraft Protection Nov 12, 2009 FDIC Votes to Require Prepayment of Assessments   Archive Contact CCH Focus CCH Focus CCHFocusEditor@cch.com   CCH Customer Support Phone: 800.449.6435 Subscriber Invitation Visitors to CCH Focus are invited to submit articles for future issues. Analyses, viewpoints, letters to the editor, manuscripts, legal memoranda and other original materials that could be adapted for publication are welcome. Submissions or queries may be sent to   Serena Lynn, Editor 2700 Lake Cook Road, Riverwoods, Illinois 60015 Phone: 847.267.7087 Fax 847.267.7776 CCHFocusEditor@cch.com

Sign up via 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, Nov. 20, 2009. 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.” The amendment would allow for audits of every item on the Fed’s balance sheet, and sets a 180-day time lag before details of... Read full article Shelby Says Dodd Reform Proposal Requires “Complete Rewrite” By Sarah Borchersen-Keto, CCH Washington News Bureau, Contributing Author, the CCH Federal Banking Law Reporter, Nov. 19, 2009. Draft financial regulatory reform legislation released last week by Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., requires a “complete rewrite,” the committee’s ranking member Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said November 19. At a hearing to commence mark-up of the Dodd proposal, Shelby said he would not be supporting the bill at this time. Dodd, meanwhile, told members that amendments to the bill should be submitted by November 25, and that the mark-up would resume the second week of December. A confirmation hearing for Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke would likely be held either December 3 or 4. Shelby Read full article Kanjorski Amendment Clears House Panel By Sarah Borchersen-Keto, CCH Washington News Bureau, Contributing Author, the CCH Federal Banking Law Reporter, Nov. 19, 2009. The House Financial Services Committee approved an amendment to the Financial Stability Improvement Act that would allow federal regulators to dismantle firms deemed systemically risky, even if they appear to be well-capitalized and healthy. “Financial firms that want to play in a casino need to have their own resources to cover their bets and not assume that tax dollars are available in reserve if their bets fail,” said Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., the amendment’s author. The amendment would allow a proposed council of regulators to evaluate companies under a set of objective standards to determine whether they are systemically risky. Breaking up the company would be the most extreme action available. Other options the council could employ include modifying existing prudential standards, imposing conditions on or terminating... Read full article White House Creates Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force By Sarah Borchersen-Keto, CCH Washington News Bureau, Contributing Author, the CCH Federal Banking Law Reporter, Nov. 17, 2009. The White House announced the creation of an interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, led by the Department of Justice, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes and help prevent a repeat of last year’s financial meltdown. “We will be relentless in our investigation of corporate and financial wrongdoing, and will not hesitate to bring charges, where appropriate, for criminal misconduct on the part of businesses and business executives,” Attorney General Eric Holder said November 17. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that by stepping up its enforcement strategy the government will be able to help stop emerging trends in financial fraud before they cause extensive damage to the economy. The Treasury Department, along with the Securities and Exchange... Read full article Congress Urged to Move Further Than Fed on Overdraft Protection By Sarah Borchersen-Keto, CCH Washington News Bureau, Contributing Author, the CCH Federal Banking Law Reporter, Nov. 13, 2009 Consumer groups and lawmakers said the Federal Reserve Board’s announcement of new rules giving customers the right to "opt in" to overdraft protection for automated teller machine and one-time debit card transactions was an important first step, but said more needs to be done to combat abusive practices. The Fed rules, which go into effect July 1, 2010, will provide consumers with a notice that explains the overdraft services, including the associated fees. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke called the rules “an important step forward in consumer protection.” Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), said the rules were “not good enough” as they do not cover recurring electronic automated clearing house (ACH) withdrawals or checks.... Read full article FDIC Votes to Require Prepayment of Assessments By Sarah Borchersen-Keto, CCH Washington News Bureau, Contributing Author, the CCH Federal Banking Law Reporter, Nov. 12, 2009. With the pace of resolutions continuing to put downward pressure on its cash balances, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. voted November 12 to require insured institutions to prepay their estimated quarterly risk-based assessments for the fourth quarter of 2009, and for all of 2010, 2011 and 2012. Annual assessment rates will also rise by three basis points starting in 2011.The move is expected to yield approximately $45 billion. The FDIC will return any unused portion of the prepaid assessment on June 30, 2013, rather than Dec. 30, 2014, as originally proposed. A bank can seek an exemption from the prepayment requirement if it can show that the prepayment would significantly impair its liquidity or otherwise create significant hardship. The FDIC does not believe that the exemptions that will... Read full article

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