Tag Archives: From The Government And Here To Help

Takeover Loans Have Few Takers on Wall Street

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“Wall Street banks are struggling to sell billions of dollars of loans they made to finance the corporate buyout boom, a sign that investor appetite for riskier debt remains muted despite a robust autumn rally in other financial markets.  The slowdown threatens to cool the surge in mergers-and-acquisitions that has sent takeover volume in 2015 to record levels, thanks in part to easy credit.  In past decades, banks sometimes held the loans until markets stabilized, but such warehousing became prohibitively expensive because of high capital charges required under the Dodd-Frank law that was passed in response to the 2008 financial crisis.”

http://www.wsj.com/articles/takeover-loans-have-few-takers-on-wall-street-1447028873

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Dodd-Frank Creates a Liquidity Crunch for Bonds

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“While each individual institution is undoubtedly safer due to capital constraints imposed by Dodd-Frank, this makes for a more illiquid market overall. The lack of liquidity will be especially potent in the bond market, where all securities are not mark-to-market and many bonds lack a constant supply of buyers and sellers.  The bond market is much larger than the equity market, and a 30-year bond bull run has many investors and institutions heavily invested in the asset class. Furthermore, studies have shown bond investors to be more sensitive to poor performance since the asset class is usually perceived as having lower risk than equities.”

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/072915/doddfrank-creates-liquidity-crunch-bonds.asp

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U.S. pension backstop faces $76.4B deficit; sharp premium hikes stir opposition

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“Despite the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.’s record high deficit, business groups say recent PBGC premium hikes meant to cover those deficits are unjustified and detrimental to the defined benefit pension system itself.  PBGC on Tuesday said its total deficit reached $76.4 billion in fiscal 2015, up nearly 24% from the year before. The deficit for single-employer pension plans accounted for $24.1 billion of that, up from $19.3 billion in fiscal 2014.  The widening deficit was driven by changes in interest factors that increased the value of single-employer program liabilities, PBGC said.”

http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20151118/NEWS03/151119792/despite-pbgc-deficit-sharp-premium-hikes-stir-opposition

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On Airbnb Rentals, California Cities Tax First and Regulate Later

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“Earlier this year, the beachside city of Santa Monica made headlines by enacting a ban on the short-term rental of a full unit.  Still, as Santa Monica begins its enforcement effort in earnest, it’s finding it needs to devote every penny of the hotel tax in that direction.  ‘The money that we are going to collect on the now-legal short-term vacation rentals is only enough to pay for the two code people and staff analyst to do effective enforcement against the illegal ones that were doing us so much damage,’ says Santa Monica Mayor Kevin McKeown. ‘So it’s probably going to be revenue-neutral for the city.'”

http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/11/04/california-cities-tax-airbnb-regulation

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DOL Fiduciary Rule Is ‘Biggest Change’ To Investment Advice Industry

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“The final version of the Department of Labor’s rule to amend the definition of fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act is expected sometime next year.  Under ERISA, advisors would be prohibited from engaging in transactions that entail conflicts of interest for the client unless there is an exemption. Advisors and clients would be required to sign best interest contract exemption contracts, in which broker-dealers and advisors acknowledge the new fiduciary standards and their impartial conduct codes. The DOL’s fiduciary rule also requires information on exactly what and who gets paid via product sales to be published in detail on publicly available websites.”

http://www.thinkadvisor.com/2015/11/23/dol-fiduciary-rule-is-biggest-change-that-well-go?page_all=1

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FTC can sue companies with poor information security: U.S. court

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“On Monday, a federal appeals court ruled that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has the power to take action (PDF) against companies that employ poor IT security practices. The FTC sued Wyndham in 2012 for failing to protect its customers from hackers, and Wyndham countered by saying that it was a victim of the hack itself and should not be penalized by the FTC for the breach.  Although the US government has not mandated a level of security necessary for businesses to meet when they hold customer data, the FTC has been trying to push companies to invest in security.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/08/ftc-can-sue-companies-with-poor-information-security-appeals-court-says/

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Australia Orders More Foreign Homeowners to Sell

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“Several foreign owners of residential property across Australia have been ordered to sell as the government intensifies its crackdown on the abuse of homeownership laws by buyers from China and elsewhere.  Treasurer Joe Hockey said foreign investors have been ordered to sell six properties in the cities of Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.  The treasurer said he expects more divestment orders will be announced soon, and promised to increase penalties for those who break the rules. The conservative government is under pressure to make housing more affordable, and rein in surging investor buying that some fear may push the market to unsustainable levels, causing a crash.”

http://www.wsj.com/articles/australia-orders-more-foreign-homeowners-to-sell-1439024595

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The Office Of Propaganda And Censorship

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“Countering Violent Extremism, or CVE, is the idea that the government should step in and work with ‘at risk communities’ to ensure that people won’t get too radical.  The government label whole communities or groups ‘at risk’ based on their religion, ethnicity, political beliefs or other non-criminal characteristics, and the government will also decide what ideas are too radical and need to be exorcised from that community.  The Obama Administration is piloting programs in Boston, Minneapolis and Los Angeles.  Now, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) has proposed a Countering Violent Extremism Act (HR2899), which would create a $50 million Office of Countering Violent Extremism at DHS.”

http://www.defendingdissent.org/now/news/the-office-of-propaganda-and-censorship/

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Our Immigration System Is Leaving Iraqi and Afghan Translators to Die

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“The news media’s focus on illegal immigration prevents crucial dialogue on something more important: legal immigration.  Launched in 2007, the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program provides visas to Iraqi and Afghan interpreters who face an ‘ongoing serious threat’ in their own countries because of the ‘faithful and valuable service’ they rendered to the U.S. government. It is a straightforward program with bipartisan support.  However, SIV is a bureaucratic mess; restrictions and backlogs have stranded former U.S. allies overseas, where they and their families are targeted for harm even though they were promised visas as part of their recruitment.”

http://fee.org/anythingpeaceful/detail/our-immigration-system-is-killing-our-allies

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Homeland Security prompted panic withdrawals that sank Mt. Gox

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“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security seized Mt. Gox assets of around $5 million kept in U.S. bank accounts around May 2013, saying it was ineligible to operate fund transfer services in the United States.  The decision prompted clients in the United States to rush to withdraw money entrusted to Mt. Gox.  By August that year, the company appears to have incurred several billion yen in losses, leading liabilities to surpass its assets and capital on its balance sheet.  The police are also investigating whether Karpeles consolidated customer and corporate funds in a bank account held by the company and embezzled around ¥1.1 billion.”

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/08/04/national/crime-legal/mt-gox-ran-money-six-months-going-bust/

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