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Washington Roundup

Effort to cut corporate tax rate to 25% faces challenges
Scrapping almost every corporate tax break would increase revenue enough to cut the corporate tax rate to 28%, according to a report by the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. Republicans, led by Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., want to cut the rate to 25%, but the analysis shows that would be difficult. Bloomberg(11/2)

Editorial: MF Global's failure is also CFTC failure
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission did not see the issues that led to the bankruptcy filing this week by MF Global. CME Group claims that MF Global violated rules that require it to segregate client funds. Questions have arisen about the possibility of missing client funds. "If reports of missing funds are true, it's a significant embarrassment for the firm's regulators at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission," according to this editorial. The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model)(11/2)

Sen. Crapo withdraws plan to revamp derivatives measure
Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, received assurances from Democrats that they would help him address concerns about regulatory overreach. Those assurances prompted Crapo to withdraw a proposed amendment to change derivatives measures included in the Dodd-Frank Act. Hear more from Crapo when he speaks at the SIFMA Annual Meeting. Register today. Bloomberg Businessweek(11/1)

Additional capital requirements could be trouble, expert says
José María Roldán, former chairman of the standards-implementation group of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, said national regulators should be careful about subjecting banks to additional capital requirements. Roldan said tougher capital requirements could hamper economic growth. "I think we have to stop this upward bargaining on the level of capital," he said. "There is a limit of how high capital requirements can go, and there are economic consequences on having a capital ratio that is far higher." Risk.net (subscription required)(11/1)

TARP pay limits are unlikely to change practices, Feinberg says
Kenneth Feinberg, former Troubled Asset Relief Program special master for executive compensation, said compensation restrictions on companies that received TARP aid are unlikely to lead to long-term changes in pay practices. "Has what I did as pay czar created much of a long-term impact on how Wall Street and Fortune 500 companies set pay? I doubt it," Mr. Feinberg said. "Do I think I have changed the way pay will be determined? I doubt it. I don't think it was without some educational value, but has there been any long-term institutional impact on the way corporations determine pay? I doubt it very much." Risk.net (subscription required)(11/1)

Disparities between regulators and risk managers are OK, official says
Gregg Berman, an adviser in the Securities and Exchange Commission's trading and markets division, said regulators and bank risk managers take different approaches, but the differences are justified and necessary. "Regulators have a different perspective and they have a different perspective because they have a different vantage point," he said. Risk.net (subscription required)(11/1)

Fed is expected to disappoint those seeking a quick fix
The Federal Open Market Committee will meet this week, but Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke isn't expected to announce new policy initiatives. Economists said Bernanke might announce a downgrade of the Fed's official economic outlook. "Fed officials want to wean the markets from expecting ever more action at each meeting, and remind of the substantial easing already in the pipeline," said Michael Hanson, an economist with Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "Fed officials are likely to catch their breath on the policy front. Instead, this meeting should feature more downtrodden economic projections." CNBC/Behind the Money blog(11/1)