The Securities and Exchange Commission will have a full set of commissioners for the
first time since January after the Senate confirmed Allison Lee to fill an open seat. Lee, who will fill a Democratic seat, is expected to restore a political balance to the agency that had made Chair Jay Clayton a swing vote on key issues. In addition to Clayton, a political independent, the SEC’s current lineup includes two Republicans, Hester Peirce and Elad Roisman; and Robert Jackson Jr., an independent picked to fill a Democratic seat. (Bloomberg Law | Jun 20)
Packages of real-estate loans are hitting the US market at the fastest rate in a decade as investors step up their search for higher returns. A total of $8.4bn of property-based collateralized loan obligations — pools of loans backing debt and equity — have been issued in the US so far this year. (Financial Times | Jun 19)
The hottest thing in investing for the past decade has been low-cost exchange-traded funds, which investors can hop in and out of any time the market is open. So here’s a strange proposition: How about buying a fund with higher fees and restrictions on when you can take out your money? Some big asset managers think investors are ready to take that offer. (Bloomberg Businessweek | Jun 18)
The Federal Reserve's "dot plot" interest-rate sentiment indicator, introduced in 2012, has had an opportunity to respond to policymakers' views only when rates are expected to remain stable or to rise. It remains to be seen how the dot plot performs when market participants expect rates to fall. (The Wall Street Journal | Jun 17)
High-speed traders Citadel Securities, GTS Securities and IMC have sided with the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and Cboe Global Markets in a legal fight to block the Securities and Exchange Commission's transaction fee pilot. The program is on hold pending a decision from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. (The Wall Street Journal | Jun 14)
