Dodd-Frank

Davis Polk Discusses CFPB “Dormant” Authority to Examine Wide Range of Companies

By Margaret E. Tahyar, Greg D. Andres, Luigi L. De Ghenghi, Daniel S. Kahn and Daniel P. Stipano May 13, 2022 by renholding

The CFPB plans to use its authority to examine any company providing consumer financial products or services that the CFPB has “reasonable cause” to believe poses risks to consumers.

The CFPB has announced its intention to invoke its “dormant” statutory …

SEC Chair Gensler Speaks on Removal of Credit-Ratings References from Reg M

By Gary Gensler March 25, 2022 by renholding

Today [March 24], the Commission voted to propose removing references of credit ratings from Rules 101 and 102 of Regulation M (Reg M). I was pleased to support today’s proposal because, if adopted, it would fulfill a mandate issued by

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Wachtell Lipton Discusses Compensation Season 2022

By Jeannemarie O’Brien, Andrea K. Wahlquist, Adam J. Shapiro, David E. Kahan, Michael J. Schobel and Erica E. Bonnett January 11, 2022 by renholding

U.S. companies continue to demonstrate resilience following another year in which the pandemic imposed itself on world events. Although 2021 did not deliver a full reopening, corporate activity thrived in spite of ongoing uncertainty around “return to work,” building on …

Whistleblowing Should Be Part of President Biden’s Fight Against Corruption

By Stephen M. Kohn September 15, 2021 by renholding

On June 3, 2021 President Joseph Biden issued a “Memorandum on Establishing the Fight Against Corruption as a Core United States National Security Interest,” (hereinafter “Anti-Corruption Memorandum” or “Memorandum”).  In issuing the Memorandum, President Biden placed fighting corruption …

Arnold & Porter Discusses NY Financial Regulator’s Collection of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Data

By Robert Azarow, David Freeman, Michael Mancusi, Monique Holmes and Howard Hyde September 8, 2021 by renholding

On July 29, 2021, the Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) issued an Industry Letter (Industry Letter) announcing its new initiative to support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts by collecting and publishing data on …

Reforming the Macroprudential Regulatory Architecture in the United States

By Kathryn Judge and Anil Kashyap July 26, 2021 by renholding

When the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered major economies in March 2020, it also wreaked havoc on financial markets. In the first few weeks of March, investment-grade corporate bonds lost roughly a fifth of their value, on par with the declines in …

Extraterritorial Reach of U.S. Crypto Regulation by the SEC

By Carol Goforth April 27, 2021 by renholding

In 2008, the world ushered in the blockchain era[1] with a whitepaper posted pseudonymously in an online discussion of cryptography under the name “Satoshi Nakamoto.”[2] That paper formed the foundation for Bitcoin, the first blockchain-hosted cryptoasset,[3] a …

Why Board Diversity and the Nasdaq Rule Requiring It Make Sense

By Richard W. Painter April 26, 2021 by renholding

In December 2020, Nasdaq asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve a new boardroom diversity rule.[1] The aim is for most Nasdaq-listed companies to have at least one director self-identifying as a woman and another self-identifying as …

How Regulatory Stress Tests Affect Bank Lending

By Falk Bräuning and José Fillat February 15, 2021 by renholding

The Dodd-Frank Act, enacted in 2010 in the wake of the Great Recession, introduced mandatory stress-testing for the largest U.S. banks. Dodd-Frank Act Stress Testing (DFAST) was intended to ensure that banks have sufficient capitalization to absorb the losses they …

A Tale of Two Enforcement Venues: Why the SEC’s Choice of Where to File Cases Matters

By Xin Zheng December 11, 2020 by renholding

The Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 allows the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to bring enforcement actions and impose civil penalties in administrative proceedings as alternatives to federal district courts. Some argue that this gives the SEC a “home-court” advantage. For …

Presidential Pendulums in Finance

By Christina Parajon Skinner November 11, 2020 by renholding

While much attention has been paid to President Trump’s deregulatory efforts and intentions, presidential involvement in the work of the administrative agencies is not new.  Past presidents including Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama have acted up to – …

Banking Bailout Law

By Virág Blazsek October 22, 2020 by renholding

Bank bailouts during periodic financial crises aim to stop financial panic and restore the stability of the financial system. Even if they are undesirable, future bank bailouts are unavoidable due to political and political economy reasons, whether or not they …

Public Disclosure and Consumer Financial Protection

By Yiwei Dou and Yongoh Roh August 17, 2020 by renholding

The 2008 financial crisis triggered a surge of interest in regulating consumer financial markets. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to safeguard consumer interests. Since 2011, the CFPB …

Congress Should Endorse the Federal Reserve’s Extraordinary Measures

By Kathryn Judge March 24, 2020 by renholding

The rapid spread of Covid-19 and massive change in behavior required to curb it have transformed the trajectory of the world’s economy.  Just a few short weeks ago, the United States was basking in the longest period of sustained economic …

Davis Polk Discusses FSOC’s Shift to an Activities-Based Approach

By Annette Nazareth, Margaret Tahyar and Randy Guynn January 22, 2020 by renholding

The Financial Stability Oversight Council’s (FSOC) recently revised guidelines (the 2019 Guidelines)[1] on how it will identify and address financial stability risks are a major shift from the guidelines it issued in the immediate aftermath of …

Too Many to Fail: Against Community Bank Deregulation

By Jeremy C. Kress and Matthew C. Turk January 2, 2020 by renholding

If there was one thing most people could agree on after the 2008 financial crisis, it was that “too-big-to-fail” banks were to blame for the market crash. This shared understanding was accompanied by a corollary: Small banks were not the …

The Effects of Mandatory Disclosure Rules on Hedge Fund Governance

By Colleen Honigsberg December 17, 2019 by renholding

In a new paper, I add to the debate over hedge fund regulation by introducing empirical evidence that hedge fund registration requirements reduce misreporting. Using three alternating changes in hedge fund regulation, my study finds consistent evidence that registration reduces …

Spinning the CEO Pay Ratio Disclosure

By Audra Boone, Austin Starkweather and Joshua T. White November 25, 2019 by renholding

The growing compensation gap between CEOs and rank-and-file employees has generated considerable debate about potential adverse consequences at both the firm and societal levels. Despite interest in the topic, assessing vertical pay disparity has been difficult due to the lack …

Gibson Dunn Discusses Volcker Rule Revisions

By Arthur S. Long and James O. Springer September 12, 2019 by renholding

Since it was enacted in July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act’s Volcker Rule has challenged banks and their regulators alike.  This is particularly the case with respect to its restrictions on proprietary trading.  It has been one thing for former Federal …

Regulating Financial Guarantors: Abstraction Bias as a Cause of Excessive Risk-taking

By Steven L. Schwarcz September 11, 2019 by renholding

Since the 2008-2009 financial crisis, scholars, regulators, and policymakers have engaged in extensive studies to try to control excessive risk-taking by systemically important financial firms. In a recent article, available here, I argue that those studies do not fully …