Topping the list of banks in the U.K. with the largest number of customer complaints were Barclays, Lloyds, and Bank of Scotland. Driving much of that dissatisfaction were reported issues involving misrepresentations made when selling payment protection insurance on charge cards and loans. Those are among the statistics drawn from tally of complaints lodged against […]
Joe Mont
Posted inFrom the Archive
Big Budget Boost for Regulators Included in White House Proposal
Funding requests by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission, included as part of the White House’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2014 that was released on Wednesday, would grow both agencies substantially to keep pace with expanding mandates. The extra money is hardly guaranteed though, with Republican critics, including two CFTC […]
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SEC and CFTC to Enforce Identity Theft ‘Red Flag’ Rules
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday adopted rules requiring broker-dealers, mutual funds, investment advisers and other “financial institutions” and “creditors” to adopt programs for detecting and responding to cases of identity theft. The rules, adopted jointly with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission also apply to the futures commission merchants, retail foreign exchange dealers, commodity […]
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EU Joins U.S. With Disclosure Demands For Oil and Mining Firms
Building upon efforts already underway in the U.S., members of the European Union on Tuesday reached a preliminary agreement to adopt new rules requiring oil, gas, and mining companies to report payments made to governments for extraction rights. In August, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a final rule that, as mandated by the Dodd-Frank […]
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U.S. Chamber Details Long Wish List of Dodd-Frank Changes
Consolidating regulatory agencies, ditching the Volcker Rule, repealing “conflict minerals” disclosure mandates, and scrapping plans for mandatory audit firm rotation are among the many regulatory changes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness hopes to achieve through a new campaign to rethink and revise the Dodd-Frank Act and other financial regulations. This […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SEC’s Social Media Guidance Raises as Many Questions as it Answers
The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a report last week broadly interpreted as a blessing for companies to use social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter for disseminating information to investors. The SEC itself posted the news on Twitter, where it was retweeted and commented upon. In true Twitter fashion, however, the celebratory, overly-simplistic […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
The Corrections: Battle Lines Drawn Over Dodd-Frank Act Fixes
After Congressional Republicans failed in repeated attempts to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act completely, they are taking a new tack—looking for ways to nibble around the edges with small fixes—that is finally starting to get some bi-partisan support. Instead of using terms such as “overhaul” or “revision,” more recent attempts to reform Dodd-Frank mention “tweaks” and […]
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Senate Confirms Mary Jo White as New SEC Chairman
The Securities and Exchange Commission officially has a new chairman. On Monday afternoon, the U.S. Senate confirmed Mary Jo White’s nomination to head the Commission. That vote, by unanimous consent, follows strong bipartisan support White received during a March 19 confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee. That committee voted favorably, 21-1, to advance White’s […]
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Fed Sets Stage For Enhanced Oversight of Nonbank Financial Companies
As a prelude to the Financial Stability Oversight Council issuing long-anticipated designations of “systemically important financial institutions,” a final rule issued last week by the Federal Reserve Board has detailed the criteria used when considering that designation for a “nonbank financial company.” Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the FSOC may subject a nonbank financial company to […]
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Four Fined $15 Million as CFPB Targets ‘Kickbacks’ by Mortgage Insurers
Fining four companies a combined $15.4 million in penalties, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has announced enforcement actions that target “improper kickbacks” paid by mortgage insurers to mortgage lenders in exchange for business. CFPB complaints allege that four mortgage insurance companies — Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corp., United Guaranty Corp., Radian Guaranty Inc., and Mortgage Guaranty […]
