Thomas M. Hoenig, FDIC Director, made a speech to the American Banker Regulatory Symposium in Washington, D.C. Director Hoenig addressed: (1) the evolution of the Basel proposal; (2) capital, the safety net and markets; (3) an alternative to Basel; (4) whether a simple measure with a relatively stronger minimum capital level would reduce liquidity in the market, constrain loan growth and undermine the economy. Director Hoenig recommends delaying implementation and revisiting the Basel proposal. Absent that, Hoenig believes that the U.S. should not implement Basel III, but reject the Basel

The SEC announced "first-of-its-kind" charges against the New York Stock Exchange for compliance failures that gave certain customers an "improper head start" on trading information ahead of ordinary public customers. According to the SEC's order against NYSE, the exchange violated SEC Regulation NMS over an extended period of time beginning in 2008. The NYSE allegedly sent data through two of its proprietary feeds before sending data to the consolidated feeds, and failed to monitor the speed of its proprietary feeds compared to its data transmission to the consolidated feeds. Lofchie Comment

The Financial Services Authority has published the first in a series of consultation papers on updates to the FSA Handbook in response to the creation of a new UK regulatory framework. The consultations are aimed at splitting the existing FSA handbook into two new rulebooks - one for the Prudential Regulation Authority and the other for the Financial Conduct Authority. This particular paper is seeking to update guidance and rules on aspects of future authorizations and supervision approaches and processes. Responses to the consultation should be submitted by December 12, 2012.

Peter Cummings, the former head of corporate lending at HBOS, has been given a lifetime ban from "performing any significant influence function" in regulated financial services "on the grounds that he lacks competence and capability to perform such functions" and a fine of pound;500,000 by the Financial Services Authority. The former banker was head of a division which lent billions of pounds to property developers, and which was found guilty by the FSA of "very serious misconduct" in March 2012. The FSA determined that, in pursuing an aggressive expansion strategy within his division, Mr

The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve committed a combined total of $182 billion to stabilize AIG. That assistance was a critical part of a broad-based effort to break the back of an historic financial panic and prevent a second Great Depression. This week the Treasury's offering of $20.7 billion in AIG common stock is an important milestone because not only was the objective of stopping a financial panic accomplished, but the expected proceeds of this offering will also mean that the overall $182 billion commitment made to stabilize AIG is fully recovered. View infographic in full