CLIENT UPDATE: Agenda for Financial Services Issues and the Week Ahead
April 27, 2009
Looking ahead on financial services agenda, this is an update on: (1) key issues on Senate and House floor -- including possible cramdown amendment to Senate housing bill and House vote on Maloney's abusive credit card practices; (2) HFSC Tuesday markup of predatory mortgage lending legislation ; and (3) SEC annoucement of a roundtable on short sale proposals for May 5.
(1) CRAM-DOWN -- MAY MOVE TO SENATE FLOOR THIS WEEK. More likely that cramdown moves as a stand-alone amendment or else may be incorporated into the base package to increase FDIC's borrowing authority up to $500 billion for a limited time to give resources to address banking sector problems and make changes in the Hope for Homeowners program to allow borrowers to refinance at-risk mortgages.
MALONEY CREDIT CARD LEGISLATION - May move to House floor for debate this week.
(2) HFSC MARK UP - PREDATORY LENDING LEGISLATION: Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 10:00 a.m., Full Committee will hold a Markup of.... H.R. 1728, Mortage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act" Following last week's legislative hearing, we are anticipating a variety of amendments including (1) a Kanjorski amendment on appraisal standards and consumer protections; and (2) a refinement to the 5% credit risk retention requiremen in Section 213 that would require originators who make non-traditional mortgage loans to retain a 5 percent stake in those mortgages until they are paid off.
(3) SHORT SALES -- The SEC announced that on May 5 will hold a round table on short selling proposals. (See notice below).
In addition, CongressDaily news clips are below on agenda ahead in HFSC and SB FYI.
Written by Kirsten Wegner
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C., April 24, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission will hold a roundtable on May 5 beginning at 10 a.m. ET to further discuss whether short sale price test restrictions or short sale circuit breakers should be adopted.
The Commission voted unanimously on April 8 to propose two approaches to restrictions on short selling. If adopted, the price test approach would apply on a permanent market-wide basis, and the circuit breaker approach would apply to a particular security during severe market declines in the price of that security.
"This roundtable will help ensure that any policy decisions going forward in the area of short selling regulation are the product of a highly deliberate review process," said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro.
Roundtable participants will include leaders from self-regulatory organizations, trading venues, the financial services industry, investment firms, and the academic community. The final agenda and list of panelists will be announced at a later date.
The roundtable will be held in the auditorium at the SEC's headquarters at 100 F Street, N.E., in Washington, D.C. The roundtable will be open to the public with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. The roundtable also will be webcast on the SEC Web site.
For additional information about the roundtable, contact the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets at (202) 551-5720.
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Preliminary Agenda for Short Sale Restrictions Roundtable