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

Washington Roundup

Regulators devise plan to use OECD classifications
Congress required federal agencies to cut reliance on credit ratings in banking regulations. Regulators responded with a plan that would use classifications by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Those rankings assign zero risk to the government debt of Greece, Portugal and other financially troubled European nations. "The regulators are interpreting Dodd-Frank too narrowly on this ratings issue," says Kenneth Bentsen, executive vice president of SIFMA. "The law instructs them to reduce the role of ratings in regulation, not eliminate it." Bloomberg(1/3)

FINRA won't require BDs to file social-media postings
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority will not require broker-dealers to register social-media postings, as it previously proposed. SIFMA had encouraged FINRA to reconsider the proposal. "If every member firm is required to monitor and review all of the online postings of all of its registered representatives, and every member firm is required to file those that trigger a filing requirement, the impact upon FINRA is potentially overwhelming," SIFMA wrote in a comment letter. SIFMA will host a Social Media Seminar on Feb. 3 in New York. Register today. InvestmentNews (free registration)(12/30)

U.S. regulatory agendas are packed in 2012
The Federal Reserve, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators will have another busy year as they continue to write and implement rules of the Dodd-Frank Act. The Wall Street Journal(1/3)

SEC will examine plans to prevent another flash crash
The Securities and Exchange Commission will review plans by stock exchange operators to prevent a repeat of the 2010 flash crash. The regulator wants to ensure that the changes don't cause other problems. Learn more about the flash clash and recommendations made to prevent a recurrence. The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires(12/30)

BD asks Supreme Court to consider whether it can sue FINRA
Standard Investment Chartered wants the Supreme Court is to take up its lawsuit against NASD, which has been renamed the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. The broker-dealer wants to sue over the self-regulatory organization's merger with the New York Stock Exchange's regulatory division. InvestmentNews (free registration)(1/1)

Financial regulation in 2011 focused on 3 major developments
Regulators, lawmakers and the financial-services industry kept busy in 2011 with new rules, tweaks to old regulations and other changes. The fight over rules shifted from Congress to regulators, Republican attempts to block funding for the Dodd-Frank Act and how the financial overhaul has increased scrutiny of the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department. The Washington Post/Wonkblog(12/29)