Blog

Laissez-faire, where art thou?

March 13, 2012

The Economist has an excellent piece on over-regulation in America. Traditionally, the United States has been marked by its adherence to laissez-faire, the principle in which the state does not meddle in transactions between private parties. As of late, however, the United States seems to be taking the opposite path. Indeed, “[a] Florida law requires…

Read More

Storm on Capitol Hill: Convenience Store Owners vs. Banks and Debit Card Companies

March 11, 2011

After having been through the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, it was time for a significant change in the American financial regulatory environment. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, signed into law by President Obama on July 21 2010, is supposed to be this change. One of its amendments directs…

Read More

Storm on Capitol Hill: Convenience Store Owners vs. Banks and Debit Card Companies

March 8, 2011

As previously reported on our blog the Dodd-Frank Act directs the Federal Reserve Bank to limit the fees banks collect from retailers each time a customer makes a purchase with a debit card to a „reasonable and proportional“ amount. Whereas merchants were delighted contending that these fees are hindering business growth, expansion plans and the…

Read More

Federal Reserve Board Proposes Rule Related to Designation of Systemically Important Nonbank Financial Companies

February 11, 2011

On February 8, 2011, the Federal Reserve Board issued a notice of proposed rulemaking implementing Section 113 of the Dodd-Frank Act to further identify and define systemically important nonbank financial companies. The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act federal statute in the United States that was signed into law by President Barack Obama…

Read More

U.S. Justizministerium schliesst Vergleich mit Visa und MasterCard ab

December 22, 2010

Nachdem das amerikanische Justizministerium und Justizminister von sieben US-Bundesstaaten Klage gegen die Kreditkartenfirmen MasterCard, Visa und American Express wegen Verstosses gegen das Kartellrecht eingeleitet hatten, haben sich Visa und MasterCard auf einen Vergleich mit dem Justizministerium geeignet. Unter anderem ist in diesem vorgesehen, dass Verkäufer frei wählen können über welches Kreditkartennetzwerk die Transaktion laufen soll.…

Read More

For Whistle-Blowers, Expanded Incentives

November 15, 2010

WASHINGTON — When insider-trading scandals plagued the financial markets in the late 1980s, lawmakers created a bounty program for whistle-blowers, allowing regulators to reward tipsters who uncovered evidence of manipulation. The effort largely failed, in part because the issue of whether to make a reward payment was left to the discretion of regulators. In 20…

Read More

Categories