Sifma : News on the capital markets, securities and financial industry

Washington Roundup

Fed says it may publish a forecast on interest rates
The Federal Reserve made a splash a few years ago when it dropped short-term interest rates to nearly zero, and then announced that it planned to keep the rates "for some time." Now, the central bank is considering making interest-rate forecasts permanent, to influence economic growth. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)(12/11)

SEC recruits trading specialists to help investigations
The Securities and Exchange Commission's Market Abuse Unit is bringing in trading specialists to bolster its investigating efforts. "We've hired specialist non-lawyer people from the industry who really understand the trading activities we are looking at and the market environment in which those activities are occurring," said Daniel Hawke, chief of the Market Abuse Unit. "It will allow us to focus on conduct that is truly wrongful as opposed to conduct that occurs every day." Securities Technology Monitor(12/9)

NYSE's "dark pool" plans could put SEC in awkward position
The New York Stock Exchange proposed developing its own "dark pool." The Securities and Exchange Commission is to rule this week on the proposal, which could force the agency to determine whether the market changes it imposed in 2007 put exchanges at a competitive disadvantage. Barron's (special access for SmartBrief readers)(12/10)

Senate panel studies financial advisers' tax strategies
The Senate Finance Committee is taking a hard look at how financial advisers create complex investment products that allow rich people and big corporations to avoid taxes in ways that aren't available to people who can't afford expensive lawyers and advisers. A report by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation found that two people investing the same amount of money could be taxed in completely different ways, depending on how the investment is set up. InvestmentNews (free registration)(12/11)

BIS appears to endorse central banks' coordinated effort
The Bank for International Settlements indicated its support for a coordinated effort by several major central banks. "A freezing of interbank markets in major funding currencies, as during the recent crisis, may require the ability to supply official liquidity in major currencies in an elastic manner," the bank said. "Only the currency-issuing central banks have this ability." MarketWatch(12/11), Bloomberg(12/11), The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/DealBook blog(12/11)

Commentary: Regulators should rethink Volcker rule
Some financial reformers have suggested that the collapse of MF Global shows the need for the Volcker rule. However, Sheila Bair, former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., writes that the Volcker rule would not have prevented MF Global's failure for a couple of reasons. Bair argues that regulators should start over with the rule, focusing on the "underlying economics of a transaction." CNNMoney.com/Fortune/Term Sheet blog(12/9)