Trust Updates Archive
SEC Delays Rule; GAO Suggests Restructuring Regulators
The Securities and Exchange Commission's decision to put the so-called
broker exception rule on hold for a second time, comes curiously close
to a call by the General Accounting Office to totally restructure federal
review of the financial industry.
In an October 2004 letter, the OCC, FDIC, and Federal Reserve jointly
called on the SEC to delay any implementation of the its revised rule.
The SEC's initial draft of the rule in 2001 would have resulted in banks
shifting, or ''pushing out'' some traditional banking services, including
fiduciary activities, into broker-dealer subsidiaries. Opposition to that
proposal was both strong and bipartisan. House and Senate hearings on the
rules brought stinging criticism, and sent the SEC back to the drawing
board. The three federal banking regulators also opposed the initial proposal. The revised rule--issued in June 2004--met with similar responses and a similar fate.
After the initial draft, Senate Banking Committee Chair Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) asked the GAO--the investigative arm of Congress--to analyze the U.S.'s financial regulatory structure and compare it to that of other countries. The GAO's 173-page report, now publicly released, calls for a significant restructuring of federal banking regulators. Recommendations include: * consolidating all financial regulators into a single entity
The SEC has extended the exemption for financial institutions from implementing the rule until March 31, 2005. Capitol Hill sources expect implementation
to be further delayed.
More in the November issue of TRN. -- Copyright ©2004 A.M. Publishing, Inc., Trust Regulatory News
No statement in this issue is offered as or should
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