Week InReview

This just in...

The INVESTORS Legal & Regulatory Council is relaunching to provide a legal resource to other Councils and to monitor the myriad regulatory developments. 

For more info, or to join the LRC, please contact Matthew Jones, staff director at (202) 712-9050  or mjones@association.institutionalinvestors.org
Fri Dec 1, 2017
Let's recap
In case you missed it . . .
Fannie-Freddie watchdog stokes quiet fight with White House

FHFA is said to want firms to keep $2 billion-$3 billion each; administration looks to limit mortgage giants' footprint (Nov 29)

 

The Securities and Exchange Commission formed a group to examine fixed-income markets with "greater focus" as such markets will look more like equity markets in coming years (Nov 28)

5 new DOL fiduciary rule standards delay facts
More about that stuff that's now stuffed in the trunk (Nov 28)

Regulators look to shine more light on U.S. Treasury market
Signalling some desire to raise the curtain on the $14 trillion market for U.S. Treasury debt, regulators suggest investors and the public could soon take a look at a vast and potentially valuable pool of Wall Street trading data (Nov 28)

SEC bond market panel likely to study liquidity, ETFs: Clayton
The SEC's new advisory panel on the corporate bond and municipal securities markets likely will examine issues related to liquidity, exchange-traded funds, and new technology, agency Chair Jay Clayton said (Nov. 28)
The Cyber Cafe
Cybersecurity news every Friday
60 cybersecurity predictions for 2018
Like death and taxes, there are only two safe predictions about cybersecurity in 2018: There will be more spectacular data breaches and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)  will go into effect on May 25. But 2018 could also bring a lot of new takes on old vulnerabilities, some completely new types of cyberattacks, and successful new defenses.
- Forbes

The key to better cybersecurity: keep employee rules simple
Cyber attackers don't need to have advanced hacking skills to break into corporate networks; they just need to know how to trick people into opening attachments and clicking on links.

The truth about machine learning in cybersecurity
It's important to separate the hype from the reality and see what exactly machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL) and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms can do right now.
Forbes
Treasury futures
Perhaps not as liquid as you think
(Nov 28) -- A Commodity Futures Trading Commission review has found that liquidity for large trades in U.S. Treasury futures aren't "as abundant as what bid-ask spreads and market depth alone suggest," CFTC Chair J. Christopher Giancarlo said in remarks prepared for a conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Some highlights:
  • Results are from preliminary review, and more study is needed
  • Being able to efficiently execute large-size trades "critically important" to U.S. financial markets
  • Big institutional market participants need to be able to execute large trades "without unnecessary increased cost and/or volatility"
Binge reading disorder
Hand-curated, chosen with love.
Sustainable investment joins the mainstream
Millennials are coming into money and want to invest it responsibly.

What to worry about in this surreal bull market
We're almost 10 years out from the financial crisis. Here, the pros share their thoughts on what could go wrong.

Nine things we learned on Tuesday about the next Fed chair
The role Jerome Powell is about to take on is a vitally important one, and he's largely unknown outside the Fed, where he has served as a member of the board of governors since 2012. So, what did we learn about him from the hearing?