Thomas M. Hoenig, FDIC Director, made a speech to the American Banker Regulatory Symposium in Washington, D.C. Director Hoenig addressed: (1) the evolution of the Basel proposal; (2) capital, the safety net and markets; (3) an alternative to Basel; (4) whether a simple measure with a relatively stronger minimum capital level would reduce liquidity in the market, constrain loan growth and undermine the economy. Director Hoenig recommends delaying implementation and revisiting the Basel proposal. Absent that, Hoenig believes that the U.S. should not implement Basel III, but reject the Basel

The NFA has announced changes to NFA's BASIC system in order to comply with NFA Financial Requirement Section 16 (which became effective on September 1) and provisions set by NFA's August Board Meeting. Section 16 requires FCMs to submit certain financial related information to NFA on a monthly, semi-monthly and daily basis. At its August meeting, NFA's Board of Directors determined that in order to assist customers in their due diligence review of an FCM, certain FCM financial data should be made publicly available on NFA's website. NFA's Board determined that the best way to display this

The NFA announced that effective October 1, 2012, FCMs which are currently regulated by a U.S. prudential regulator or that are also in some capacity registrants of the SEC (meaning, as a practical matter, FCMs that are also SEC-registered broker-dealers) must have a designated CCO under CFTC Rule 3.3, and that person must also be a listed principal of the firm. Further, those FCMs will be required to file the CCO Annual Report as of the date of the firm's first fiscal year end after October 1. View notice in full here (links externally to NFA website).

In the American Banker Regulatory Symposium, Martin J. Gruenberg (Acting Chairman, FDIC) made remarks on three topics: the conditions of the banking industry, an overview of the progress being made by the FDIC and the Federal Reserve on the resolution plans or so-called "living wills," and the FDIC's community banking initiatives. The FDIC is also taking a closer look at the examination process for risk management and compliance supervision. Lofchie Comment: Chairman Gruenberg's speech overlaps in content to some extent with the GAO report on community banking. He mentions both regulatory

The SEC announced that Andrew J. Bowden has been named Deputy Director of the agency's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), succeeding Norm Champ, who was named head of the SEC's Division of Investment Management last July. View press release here (links externally to SEC website).