Overhaul pact sends financial shares higher
Looks as if all the lobbying loot was worth it.
"Consumers given more protections" by Ron Lieber and Tara Siegel Bernard, New York Times | June 26, 2010
NEW YORK — Stockbrokers and annuity peddlers are still not required to act in their customers’ best interest....
The bill offers a number of new protections, many of which are a bit like closing the barn door after all of the animals escaped....
You kids might be interested in this next one:
Credit and debit cards
Hate those merchants who won’t let you use your credit card unless you spend more than a certain amount? Well, now they have Congress’s blessing, as long as the minimum is not higher than $10. The Federal Reserve can increase the minimum if it chooses.
Why?
As for maximums, only the federal government and colleges and universities can limit what people spend. So if you are paying tuition on a credit card and earning a couple of free plane tickets each year, that fun may soon end....
As if assuming crippling debt is "fun."
Hey, what is an AmeriKan newspaper article without a few insults?
Merchants may have to pay more to accept debit cards from smaller banks and credit unions than big banks like
Oddly, community bankers and credit unions don’t want to end up earning more money from merchant fees than big banks do, even though it would give them a competitive advantage. Why not? They worry that the big banks will immediately put pressure on Visa and MasterCard to lower merchant fees for all debit cards, not just the big banks’ cards. Thus, the smaller institutions had hoped that the status quo would remain, with everyone continuing to earn fat fees from the merchants forever.
You know where that was coming out of, right? Check your back pocket.
It is not clear what the Fed will do or how the big banks and Visa and MasterCard will react. This could take a few years to play out, or many years if lawsuits start flying.
Yeah, everything in AmeriKa always ends up in court.
And this next one.....
Fiduciary duty
The Securities and Exchange Commission was given the authority to create a rule for brokers that would require them to put their clients’ interests first.
It must be me because I THOUGHT THAT WAS WHAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING.
But that won’t happen right away....
Sigh, pffft!
There are no guarantees....
Equity indexed annuities
These annuities are complex financial products that promise a minimum return on your investment. But they often require you to tie up your money for long periods and charge hefty surrender fees if you need to pull out your money early. Unscrupulous salesmen, who collect lucrative commissions, have used deceptive marketing techniques to sell these products to senior citizens, which is why sales of these annuities have been the subject of many lawsuits.
But a provision in the legislation will prevent the SEC from regulating them, a step backward, consumer advocates and the commission have argued, from what is now the case.
Why am I getting the feeling that ONCE AGAIN it's a WIN for WALL STREET when it comes out of DC!
Yeah, DO IT right before the HOLIDAY when no one is paying attention and SELL OUR INDEPENDENCE AWAY to Wall Street!
The SEC had adopted a rule to regulate these annuities as securities, but it had not been enacted. Now, the annuities would be treated as insurance products, which means they would be overseen by state insurance regulators.
I guess that's better than Feds.
It's called a LOOPHOLE, and I'll bet the thing is full of 'em.
--more--"
Also see: Wall Street Not Worried About Washington Regulations
They may not even get them anyway:
"Bill can’t bank on Brown’s support; Financial regulations overhaul faces hurdle Legislation seeks to rein in abuses" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff | June 26, 2010
WASHINGTON — Bleary eyed House and Senate negotiators produced an overhaul of financial industry rules early yesterday that would give the government broad powers to regulate Wall Street and protect consumers from unscrupulous lenders, but Democrats enjoyed only a fleeting celebration before Senator Scott Brown, a Massachusetts Republican, said he was withholding support, citing $19 billion in new bank taxes inserted at the last minute.
Related: Who Bought Brown's Election?
Getting their money's worth.
Brown’s ire over the levy on big banks and hedge funds, which he said would be passed on to consumers, highlighted the difficulties Democrats will face getting the compromise legislation passed in the Senate....
But it was being called a HUGE VICTORY for Obama yesterday.
WTF, MSM? He that low in the polls you are hiding from us?
The $19 billion in new taxes would be imposed on large institutions over five years, and the money mostly would be used to pay for costs of increasing regulation over 10 years. It also would pay for $1 billion in federal bridge loans for unemployed homeowners facing foreclosure.
The taxes were tacked onto the legislation during a marathon, 20-hour negotiating session which ended with a final vote at 5:39 a.m. yesterday — just five minutes before dawn.
I had already begun blogging for the day.
The legislation cleared a conference committee along party lines, with House conferees voting 20 to 11 and Senate conferees voting 7 to 5. If Democrats can engineer final passage in the House and Senate, President Obama is hoping to sign it into law by July 4....
Gee, yesterday they made it sound like a sure thing as he was rushing off to the G-20.
Brown did not declare outright opposition, however....
That's it; I've had enough s*** for breakfast.
Despite the challenges for Senate vote-counters, Obama yesterday predicted victory.
“You bet,’’ the president said, when asked whether Democrats could get the bill through the Senate...
The conference committee agreement capped a frenzied two weeks. Through most of the hearings, Frank was at center stage, banging his gavel to overrule other members and attempting to steer the direction of the debate. He bantered with his Senate counterpart, Democrat Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, who is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.
“Could I have an additional one minute?’’ Representative Spencer Bachus, an Alabama Republican, asked at one point in the last, 20-hour session.
“No,’’ Frank responded. “Not at 11 o’clock at night.’’
--more--"Also see: Frank's Interference
He must have blocked me because there will be no purchase today.
The web preview revealed a Slow Saturday PoS and it simply is not worth it to buy a printed paper.
