#swing pricing – Federal Financial Analytics

2 02, 2023

DAILY020223

Eliza Allen2023-02-02T17:01:46-05:00February 2nd, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

Scott Seeks Innovation, Competitiveness, Responsibility, Administrative Neutrality

Announcing his priorities for this Congress, Senate Banking Ranking Member Tim Scott (R-SC) struck the guarded stance in favor of bipartisan cooperation expressed yesterday by HFSC Chairman McHenry (R-NC). His top priority is increasing credit availability, with a mention of global competitiveness suggesting perhaps some interest in the Basel proposals as well as the need to advance fintech expressly mentioned in his release. Like Rep. McHenry, Sen. Scott also highlights regulatory accountability; unlike the HFSC chairman, he cannot call hearings to achieve this although he can of course ask committee witnesses pointed questions.

GAO Presses Need For MMF Reform

As required by the CARES Act, the GAO today issued a study on the March 2020 MMF runs that led the SEC to propose reforms last February (see FSM Report MMF19). It finds that the SEC’s current MMF liquid assets rules (see FSM Report MMF13) not only failed to prevent MMF runs during the pandemic, but also may have contributed to them by encouraging preemptive MMF share redemption. It also finds that, even though no MMF imposed a fee or gate in March 2020, their possibility likely contributed to redemption incentives.

Daily020223.pdf…

2 11, 2022

DAILY110222

Eliza Allen2022-11-02T16:14:20-04:00November 2nd, 2022|2- Daily Briefing|

SEC Turns to Swing Pricing, Structural OEF Redesign

As anticipated, the SEC today voted 3-2 to advance swing pricing and other structural changes to open-end funds (OEFs). Key to this proposal is to the Commission’s controversial MMF draft (see FSM Report MMF19) is swing pricing, with Chairman Gensler laying out how he believes swing pricing would end first-mover advantage and thus improve fund stability. The proposal also imposes stiff new liquidity standards, with Commissioner Uyeda dissenting from this and the rest of the proposal on grounds that only bank-loan funds have proven to be demonstrably illiquid under stress.

BIS Announces DeFi Foreign Exchange Pilot for CBDCs

Continuing its CBDC pilots, the BIS today announced the launch of Project Mariana, a system seeking to use DeFi protocols to automate CBDC foreign-exchange settlements. Project Mariana will operate in Switzerland, France, and Singapore, exchanging wholesale CBDCs. The BIS is interested in exploring the application and design of automated market markers in wholesale CBDC exchanges, the effectiveness of a supra-regional network for cross-border settlement, and potential governance models of wholesale CBDCs.

Daily110222.pdf…

4 10, 2022

DAILY100422

Eliza Allen2022-10-05T10:36:14-04:00October 4th, 2022|2- Daily Briefing|

IMF Calls for Open-End Fund Swing Pricing

The IMF today released a study of open-end funds sure to guide the action promised by SEC Chairman Gensler (see Client Report INVESTOR20).

Fed Study: Climate-Risk Insurance Cross-Subsidies Pose Moral Hazard, Financial Risk

Using homeowners’ insurance as a proxy for climate-risk insurance, a Fed staff study finds that the decoupling of rates and risk raises moral hazard and causes policy-holders in lower-risk and less restrictively regulated states to subsidize those in riskier states, where rates have been outpaced by losses.

Yellen Highlights Need for Crypto Reg at Racial Equity Roundtable

At a Treasury roundtable on racial equity and economic inequality, Treasury Secretary Yellen today reiterated the importance of the cryptoasset standards recommended yesterday by the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

Fed Sets Supervisory Standards for a Non-Traditional IDI Parent

The Federal Register today includes the Federal Reserve’s final supervisory framework for DIHCs controlled by insurance companies.

Final FHLB Listening Session Brings System Praise, Resistance to Change

We will shortly provide clients with an in-depth report on the last session FHFA held today listening to dozens of views on the future of the Federal Home Loan Bank System.

Daily100422.pdf…

26 07, 2022

DAILY072622

Eliza Allen2023-01-04T15:44:21-05:00July 26th, 2022|2- Daily Briefing|

Fed Encounters Tough New Complaints re Governance, Security

Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) today released a report from the Republican Members of the Senate Homeland Security Committee not only alleging repeated Chinese attempts to infiltrate the Federal Reserve, but also Fed laxity ahead of and in response to this threat.

SEC Official Seems to Doubt Swing Pricing

In remarks today, the head of the SEC’s investment management division, William Birdthistle, seems to cast doubt on the agency’s MMF swing-pricing proposal (see FSM Report MMF19). As we noted in our assessment of the FSB’s MMF report (see FSM Report MMF18), one alternative to MMFs would be bank deposits, but Mr. Birdthistle indicates that this is both unlikely and undesirable due to the lower rates paid on bank deposits.

Brown, Sanders, Dems Introduce Bill to Extend Full Range of Civil Rights Protections to Financial Services

Today, Sen. Brown (D-OH) and seventeen Senators introduced legislation that explicitly prohibits financial institutions from discriminating against customers based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation. No text of the bill is available, but the release today suggests it is similar to or identical to legislation Sen. Brown introduced late in the last Congress (see FSM Report FAIRLEND9) revising the Civil Rights Act to expressly cover financial services.

Daily072622.pdf…

19 04, 2022

DAILY041922

Eliza Allen2023-03-02T10:47:37-05:00April 19th, 2022|2- Daily Briefing|

CRA Reform Still in “Soon” Timeframe

In remarks today, Acting Comptroller Hsu provided only a little insight into ongoing negotiations over a new CRA proposal, reiterating that one will “soon” be released.

IMF Warns of Payment-System Fragmentation, Dealer-Bank Commodity

The IMF today released more of its annual global financial report, going beyond the assessment of the renewed sovereign doom loop we addressed in yesterday’s FedFin alert to consider other financial-stability risks and call for quick action on a new fintech/crypto regulatory framework.

Fed Finds Nonpublic Prime Funds More Resilient

As the SEC contemplates MMF reform (see FSM Report MMF19), the Fed has continued to issue reports highlighting vulnerabilities that the central bank likely feels are only partially addressed by the Commission’s preferred liquidity fix: swing pricing.

IMF Calls for Fast, Tough Fintech, DeFi Regulation and Supervision

The IMF’s overarching financial-stability report not only deals with the structural risks addressed earlier today, but also those posed by fintechs and DeFi. As presaged in its blog post last week, the report concludes that fintechs pose risks both on their own and to less technologically advanced banks, each of which requires regulatory action to prevent systemic risk.

Carstens Endorses Fed’s Cautious CBDC Stance

In a discussion about the future of digital money during the IMF annual meetings, BIS General Manager Carstens endorsed Federal Reserve Chairman Powell’s cautious approach to creating a CBDC (see FSM Report CBDC10), citing the critical importance of reliability to CBDC success.

Daily041922.pdf…