The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is backing away from a controversial plan to let banks and fund managers keep secret for two full days their biggest trades in the $559 trillion global swaps market after some financial firms complained it would hurt transparency. (Bloomberg Markets | Sep 10)
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell makes no secret of his admiration for Alan Greenspan. And now, more than half-way through Powell’s four-year term, his Fed is looking a lot like that of the man once dubbed the monetary maestro. It is a Fed that, as pronouncements at the institution’s virtual policy symposium last month made clear, prioritizes flexibility in setting monetary policy as it grapples with a pandemic that has devastated the economy. There will be no hard-and-fast rules that determine when to raise interest rates and when to cut them. (Bloomberg Economics | Sep 9)
Of all the big-ticket regulations the Labor Department hopes to push through before the end of the year, three in particular worry the retirement and benefits industry because of their short comment periods, which could leave the agency vulnerable to legal challenges. (Bloomberg Law | Sep 9)
Climate change poses a major risk to the stability of the U.S. financial system and requires aggressive action from Washington policy makers, according to a report from an advisory panel to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the top U.S. commodities regulator. (The Wall Street Journal | Sep 9)
The federal budget deficit hit an unprecedented $3 trillion in August, with another month to go before the end of the fiscal year, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. That figure amounts to $1.9 trillion more than the same period last year, and more than double the largest yearlong deficit on record. (The Hill (Sep 8)
