CNBC Guest Blog
- Yoshikami: Four Things You Need to Know About Gold Now
- Steinbock: The Euro Zone Endgame Begins
- Laouchez: Leadership in Financial Services — Missing in Action?
- Kuntz: Finding Opportunity in Emerging Markets
- Busch: How to Trade the Euro on an Outside Reversal
- Dunkelberg: The Real Banking Crisis - They're Too Big to Manage
- Greek Exit a Worse Mistake Than Adoption of Euro
- Tamminen: Waste Not, Want Not
- Morici: The Eclipse of American Banking
- Will This Decade Be More Grim Than the 1930s?
MOST SHARED
- Greece Pours $22.6 Billion Into Four Biggest Banks
- Europe Has Wall Street's Bull on a Short Leash
- Greece to Leave Euro Zone on June 18: Wealth Manager
- Spain's Borrowing Costs Near Danger Level: Bailout Next?
- Winemaking Lures the Wealthy, But Not With Profits
- Collectors Wary Of Investing In Josh Hamilton
- The Shortage of Women Billionaires
- 5 Spots Where the Dollar Buys a Great Vacation
- 10 Ways to Save Money by Spending More
- A New Look at the ‘New Poor’
- Six Pack: Beer Buzz of the Week
- Greek Exit Could Trigger 50% Fall in Euro Stocks: Analyst
- Under Pressure, FHA Skews to Wealthier Home Buyers
- Big Stock Upside for Hudson City Deal: Analyst
- 5 High-Yield Stocks Ready to Boost Dividends
- Yoshikami: Four Things You Need to Know About Gold Now
- Steinbock: The Euro Zone Endgame Begins
- Option Bulls Take Another Shot on Idenix
- Spain's Debt Costs Near Danger Level: Is Bailout Next?
- US Markets Will Be Watching Europe—And Jobs Report
- European Companies Plan for Greek Unrest and Euro Exit
- Public Pensions Faulted for Bets on Rosy Returns
- Greece to Leave Euro Zone on June 18: Wealth Manager
- Italy 2-Year Borrowing Costs at Peak Since December
- Euro Bond Wins Supporters, but Details Remain Vague
- German, UK Bond Yields Will Go Even Lower
- Labor Board Member Resigns Over Leak to GOP Allies
RSS FEED
Busch: Financial Regulatory Reform—Confusion and Delay
Text Size 
CNBC Contributor
 |
This NYT article by Gretchen Morgenson entitled, "It's Time for Swaps to Lose Their Swagger" provides a glimpse into what's going on with financial regulatory reform. Note how the article uses the term "swaps" for three different types of swaps: debt, credit default, and interest rate. All are extremely different in their function and to what exposure they they cover. Yet, they are all lumped together as the cause of numerous problems within the financial sector.
Given the current trouble Congress is experiencing getting a financial regulatory bill out of the Senate, this underscores some of the confusion about arcane financial products and confusion over how to address their risks (if any) towards the financial markets. FYI, there has been many predictions from the Senate banking committee that they will be producing a bill soon.......and then nothing happens. Serious disagreements continue to crop up and lack of agreement continues to plague the process. I expect a bill soon, but......
There is no agreement yet on the Consumer Financial Protection Agency or a similar regulatory body that focuses on consumer financial products.
There is slowly developing a Too-Big-To-Fail oversight body. The latest is to have a council housed at the US Treasury with the Fed nominating an institution and the council deciding if it will be wound down.
There is very little discussion on derivatives language and whether all derivatives will be thrust onto an exchange.
The Volcker Rule splitting proprietary trading out of banks looks like it's dead from a legislative standpoint, but will be part of a regulators guidelines.
Last Friday, the six hours of solid debate didn't lead to much momentum on that bill and took Congressional oxygen away from FRR. The biggest threat to a bill remains whether the Senate goes to reconciliation on health care and creates a scorched earth policy towards other legislation.
________________________
Andrew B. Busch
Director,
Global Currency and Public Policy Strategist at BMO Capital Markets, a recognized expert on the world financial markets and how these markets are impacted by political events, and a frequent CNBC contributor. You can comment on his piece and
reach him here and you can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/abusch .
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
