November 2, 2009
Competing OTC Derivatives Bills Progress Through the House
Below is an excerpt from this Davis Polk memo that describes key provisions of two competing over-the-counter derivative bills being considered in the House, comparing their similarities and differences:
Two competing bills to reform the over-the-counter derivatives markets are awaiting action by the House of Representatives: a bill to enact the “Over-the-Counter Derivatives Markets Act of 2009” reported by the Financial Services Committee, chaired by Barney Frank, and a bill to enact the “Derivatives Markets Transparency and Accountability Act of 2009” reported by the Agriculture Committee, chaired by Collin Peterson.
Each of the Frank Bill and the Peterson Bill is based on the proposal released by the Obama Administration on August 11, 2009, and since their earlier releases as discussion drafts, they have moved incrementally closer to each other. The bills share many common features, but several important differences remain to be reconciled. It is expected that Chairman Frank and Chairman Peterson will work to reconcile the differences before a bill moves to the House floor.
And here is an interesting article from Harpers entitled “An Object Lesson in Governmental Failure: Derivatives Reform.”
RiskMetrics Opens Its Policy Comment Period
Last week, RiskMetrics opened its policy comment period, providing an opportunity for a range of industry constituents to provide feedback on updates to its proxy voting policies in markets worldwide. Topics covered include takeover defenses in the U.S.; board and director independence in Japan, the U.S., and Europe; compensation and slate ballots in Canada; and equity and share purchase authorities in Europe. The comment period runs through next Wednesday, November 11th.
Sidenote: On Friday, the SEC’s Inspector General released 536 exhibits related to the SEC’s failure to uncover the Bernie Madoff scandal. That’s a lot of paper. Here’s DealBook’s analysis of what the exhibits say…
Also notable is this recent speech from SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar entitled “The Power of the Shareholder & the Rise of Corporate Democracy.”
Our November Eminders is Posted!
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– Broc Romanek