Mary Jo White, President Obama’s pick to be the next S.E.C. chairwoman, took a tough stance on Wall Street regulation yesterday, testifying before the Senate Banking Committee. Ms. White is a former federal prosecutor, although she has also worked as a corporate Wall Street defense attorney. She appears likely to win confirmation (as early as next week). If and when she does, banks should expect rigorous oversight from the government’s top securities regulation agency. During her testimony, Ms. White said: “I don’t think there’s anything more important than vigorous and credible enforcement of the securities laws.” For more, see the NYTimes. On a related note, Senator Warren (D-MA) has continued to push for increasing bank oversight and regulation.
The Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy and the Berkeley Business Law Journal will be hosting their 2013 symposium on the JOBS Act this Friday, March 15. Registration is required. See a previous post for a complete description of this year’s symposium lineup.
Federal prosecutors recently caught a break in an ongoing offshore tax evasion investigation, centered around Swiss financial advisor Beda Singenberger. In a letter mailed to the United States, Singenberger unintentionally included a list of approximately 60 U.S. ‘clients.’ “The government has mined that list to great effect and prosecuted a number of people who were on that list,” according an assistant U.S. Attorney working the case. The government continues its crack-down on unreported foreign accounts, which included a $780 million settlement with UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank. For more, see Bloomberg.
A recent Los Angeles Times report shows that the FDIC has been quietly settling actions against banks involved in unsound mortgage loans—including “no press release” terms that have kept the matters quiet unless and until it received a “specific inquiry.” The newspaper claims that this practice constitutes “a major policy shift from previous crises, when the FDIC trumpeted punitive actions against banks as a deterrent to others.” Under a Freedom of Information Act request, the Times recovered more than 1,600 pages of FDIC settlement documents “catalog[ing ] fraud and negligence.” Yesterday, Forbes picked up on the story, asking, “Is the FDIC Protecting Banks from Bad Press?” For more, see the LATimes and Forbes.
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