Recent Articles

Volcker Rule Delay Means Party Isn't Over for Proprietary Trading

Michael Stocker
March 08, 2012 21:38

Last week Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke announced a delay in the implementation of the Volcker Rule, news that should make investment banks give a big sigh of relief. Everyone knows the role that risky asset backed securities played in financial crisis. What's less clear to some people is how the...

New Capital Formation Initiatives: Hidden Danger for Investors

Michael Stocker
March 01, 2012 20:35

While a raft of new "capital formation" proposals are currently enjoying broad bipartisan support in Congress, they are likely to deeply undermine key investor protections at a time when confidence in the integrity of the markets is more important than ever.  One set of bills...

Fed Raises Stakes for Directors with New Governance Rules

Michael Stocker
January 20, 2012 16:13

Surprising new proposals for corporate governance reforms are being issued by an agency not generally associated with investor protection—the Federal Reserve.   On December 20, 2011, the Federal Reserve Board issued proposed rules to strengthen regulation and supervision of large...

Stealth Attack on Volcker Rule

Michael Stocker
January 12, 2012 21:37

Investors hoping for strict enforcement of the new Volcker Rule guarding against risky proprietary investing by big banks shouldn't hold their breath. The Volcker Rule, part of the Dodd Frank reforms inspired by the financial crisis, restricts U .S. banks from making certain kinds of speculative...

EU Takes A Whack at Credit Rating Agencies

Michael Stocker
November 16, 2011 00:04

Today the EU unveiled the most sweeping reforms to date of the troubled credit rating industry. The proposed rules, which will require the approval of the European Parliament and EU member states, represent some significant progress in ongoing efforts to improve ratings.  The reform...

Slowing Down High-Frequency Traders

Michael Stocker
October 12, 2011 22:11

Regulators in the United States and abroad have embarked on an effort to crack down on market abuses involving computerized high-frequency trading. High-frequency trading was found responsible for the “flash crash” of May 6, 2010, and regulators suspect that it is contributing to the...

Proposed Legislation Frays Investor Protection

Michael Stocker
September 29, 2011 01:38

A new move by the legislature threatens to increase risk in already dangerously volatile markets. Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act sets out detailed internal control reporting requirements intended to better educate investors about the reliability of reported financial results. These...

NYSE Tightens Grip on Reverse Mergers

Michael Stocker
August 12, 2011 17:44

On August 4, 2011, the New York Stock Exchange LLC (“NYSE”) and NYSE Amex proposed more stringent rules governing reverse merger companies – companies that became public without having to meet the strict rules covering IPOs. The proposed rules contain a series of...

SEC Sounds Alarm on Reverse Mergers

Michael Stocker
June 16, 2011 19:29

On June 9, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a bulletin warning investors about companies that enter U.S. markets through so-called “reverse mergers”—and explaining how they can be detected. In a reverse merger, a private company merges with an existing public...

Resistance to Tighter Mortage Lending Regulation Makes Strange Bedfellows

Michael Stocker
June 14, 2011 21:00

In the wake of the mortgage meltdown of 2007-2008, regulators have sought to substantially stiffen lending requirements for lower-income homeowners. This regulatory activity, spurred by the suggestion that overly generous lending to consumers with little ability to pay played a key role in the...