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Washington Roundup

Lawmakers seek exemptions to muni adviser definition
A bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, urging exemption of regulated entities, such as broker-dealers, from its proposed definition of municipal advisers. "It's clear members of Congress, on a bipartisan basis, have grave concerns over the scope of the SEC's broad definition of municipal adviser, and they have appropriately asked the SEC to correct the reach of this proposed rule," Michael Decker, managing director and co-head of SIFMA's muni securities division, said in a written statement. The Bond Buyer (free content)(12/21)

CFTC approves swaps-trade reporting rule
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved a final swaps trade reporting rule that will impose a "real-time price disclosure delay" of a half hour. The delay will eventually drop to 15 minutes. "Leading up to the financial crisis, there was no required reporting about swaps trading, and this lack of market transparency made the risk that had spread throughout the financial system all the more difficult to identify," CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler said. "This will for the first time give the broad public a window." Read SIFMA's statement on CFTC Swaps Reporting Rules. The Wall Street Journal(12/21), Bloomberg Businessweek(12/21), Financial Times(tiered subscription model)(12/20)

Gensler aims to propose Volcker rule next month
Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, says the agency is preparing to follow the lead of other federal regulators by proposing the Volcker rule. "I would be hopeful that we would address ourselves to a proposal -- possibly even in the first meeting of January -- of the Volcker rule," Gensler said. The CFTC is tentatively scheduled to meet Jan. 11. Bloomberg(12/20)

Global regulatory efforts are expected to boost shadow banks
Efforts by global regulators to improve the stability of the financial system could inadvertently help the shadow-banking system, experts said. Hedge funds, private-equity funds and other players in shadow banking are expected to acquire assets that banks must sell to comply with regulations. "The growth of the shadow-banking system is a logical consequence," said Konrad Becker, an analyst at Merck Finck. Reuters(12/20)

Commentary: SEC takes aim at heart of financial crisis
Peter J. Wallison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, writes that the Securities and Exchange Commission's recently announcement of lawsuits against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives is "a seminal event." The SEC has clarified the role of the government-sponsored mortgage giants in the subprime crisis. "More importantly, the SEC is saying that Fannie and Freddie -- the largest buyers and securitizers of subprime and other low-quality mortgages -- hid the size of their purchases from the market," Wallison writes. The Wall Street Journal(12/21