In a staff report published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, authors Marco Cipriani, Antoine Martin, and Bruno M. Parigi assert that, while the practice of banks raising money by borrowing from money market funds has some benefits, it can also lead to bank failures, and thus be a source of systemic instability. Click here to view report in full (links externally to NY Fed website).

SIFMA submitted comments to the MSRB on its Concept Proposal to require underwriters to submit preliminary official statements (POSs) to the MSRB's Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) System, as detailed in MSRB Notice 2012-61. SIFMA provided several recommendations, and suggested that the fastest way to make POSs available to retail investors is through educational outreach to municipal issuers. SIFMA urged the MSRB to carefully weigh the "incremental benefits" before imposing the proposed new regulatory requirement. Click hereto view comment letter in full (links externally to SIFMA

The Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs will conduct a hearing on "Wall Street Reform: Oversight of Financial Stability and Consumer and Investor Protections." The witnesses to Panel 1 include: The Honorable Mary J. Miller, Daniel K. Tarullo, Martin J. Greunberg, Thomas J. Curry, Richard Cordray, Elisse B. Walter and Gary Gensler. Click here for more details.

For fiscal year 2012, the SEC received 11,292 FOIA requests, providing the requesting party with full grants of information 2,391 times and complete denials 479 times. (We are letting you do the math on partial grants.) Click here to view report in full (links externally to SEC website).

The SEC extended the expiration date for various Expiring Temporary Exemptions until February 11, 2014. In addition, the SEC requested comment on any exemption contained in the July 1, 2011 Order granting temporary exemptive relief from compliance with certain provisions of the Exchange Act in connection with the revision of the Exchange Act definition of "security" to encompass security-based swaps, as well as any additional relief that should be granted upon the expiration of the extension. Click here to view in full Order Extending Temporary Exemptions Originally Granted On July 1, 2011