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

Washington Roundup

• CFTC became increasingly important in 2011
  The Commodity Futures Trading Commission transformed from a sleepy regulatory agency to an important rule-making body in 2011. Platts/The Barrel blog(12/28)
• Bernanke might increase number of press briefings
  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke might double the central bank's press briefings, to better explain policy changes. Sam Bullard, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities, said adding Fed briefings "is a viable option because Mr. Bernanke has been an effective communicator" of policy goals. Crain's New York Business/Bloomberg(12/28)
• Commentary: Fed exacerbates "too big to fail" problem
  John H. Cochrane, a finance professor at the University of Chicago, explains how the Federal Reserve cautions about the problems related to "too big to fail" financial institutions. But, he writes, the central bank doesn't do enough to address them. The Wall Street Journal(12/29)

Operations Update

• U.S. financial system faces outside threats, experts say
  Electronic attacks are considered among the biggest threats to the U.S. financial system. Symantec estimated in 2010 that about 75% of phishing targets the financial sector. Nasdaq OMX CEO Bob Greifeld said his exchange is constantly under attack. Experts warned about the consequences of a cyber-attack on financial markets. Learn more about cybersecurity in the financial services industry. The Economist(12/31)
• Trends to guide banks' risk management investments
  Financial institutions are expected to have spent 7% more on risk technology this year than in 2010, according to IDC Financial Insights. A number of risk-management approaches are expected to guide their investments. For example, regulatory changes are forcing banks to improve their risk management. American Banker (free registration)(1/1)