US SEC to vote on long-awaited climate disclosure rule, notice says
Wall Street's top regulator will vote on March 6 on whether to adopt rules requiring US-listed companies to report climate-related risks, the agency said in a notice on Wednesday, in a potentially major overhaul of US disclosure rules. The Securities and Exchange Commission rules aim to standardize climate-related company disclosures about greenhouse gas emissions, risks, and how much money they are spending on the transition to a low-carbon economy. The agency says that such information is important for investors. (Reuters | Feb 29)
The pros of the ballooning shadow banking system
You may have noticed that banks aren’t quite what they once were. More and more of the financial system’s heavy lifting is now being done by capital markets. At least in the US. The flipside is an explosion of lending by bond funds and other investment vehicles that are often collectively called “shadow banks”. (Financial Times | Feb 28)
World economy has growing chance of a soft landing, G20 says
The global economy has a growing chance of pulling off a soft landing, finance chiefs said in a draft of the G20’s closing statement at this week’s meeting in Brazil, citing faster-than-expected disinflation as one of the upside risks. Finance ministers in Sao Paulo will finalize a closing statement. (Bloomberg Economics | Feb 27)
CRE and systemic risk
It’s worth reviewing what systemic risk — if any — could come from US commercial property loans. This discussion isn’t all that new. But the slide in office valuations is ongoing. And because New York Community Bancorp has given investors a scare, and as the Fed’s BTFP facility starts to wind down, it’s worth revisiting. It’s probably not going to cause a financial crisis ... but non-bank lenders and investors are still worth a look. (Financial Times | Feb 27)
Treasury markets are losing their shock absorber
Participation is dwindling in a Federal Reserve program that has helped the US government limit its borrowing costs, a development that many investors say presages higher interest rates and larger swings in the $26 trillion Treasury market. The overnight reverse repurchase facility, known on Wall Street as reverse repo, enables large financial firms such as money-market funds to briefly swap extra cash for high-quality securities on the central bank’s balance sheet and pocket some interest. (The Wall Street Journal | Feb 26)
|