News Article The House Financial Services Committee aims to "identify and remedy" any unintended consequences of the Dodd-Frank regulatory overhaul, with a focus on rules governing proprietary trading and derivatives, according to a draft of the panel's strategic plan. The 20-page document, circulated to committee members and staff for comment by Chairman Spencer Bachus of Alabama, says that the panel will focus this year on overseeing implementation of Dodd-Frank's new rules for Wall Street. Publication Bloomberg Date February 1, 2011 Cross References Dodd-Frank Act, Title VII

News Article Top European Union officials will on Wednesday call for curbs on derivatives markets and greater use of trade policy to reduce volatility in commodity prices and improve the bloc's access to key raw materials. Michel Barnier, EU internal market commissioner, backs limiting traders' positions, and changes could be introduced via the Market in Financial Instruments directive, which is under review. France has included position limits in its G20 proposals. For example, Paris has called for harmonisation of commodity data from G20 countries, and suggested a registration system to

News Article CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton said that U.S. regulators or exchanges should test high-frequency and algorithmic trading programs before they are used in markets. "I believe these trading programs need to be tested, either by the exchanges or by the regulators, before they go live and that they should be monitored in some way when they do go on line," Chilton said in prepared remarks for a conference held today by the American Public Gas Association in Fort Myers, Florida. Chilton, a Democrat and one of the agency's five commissioners, said there should be a "standard definition"

HM Treasury, the Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England have produced a joint report of their views on the European Commission consultation document on Credit Rating Agencies. Amongst other issues, the authorities consider that the Commission should look to the measures taken in other jurisdictions to reduce overreliance on credit ratings, and seek to improve competition in the industry whilst ensuring that ratings are of a high quality. Date January 31, 2011

The revisions to the OCC CRA regulations adjust the asset-size thresholds to be used to define "small bank" and "intermediate small bank" based on the annual percentage change in the Consumer Price Index. Date January 26, 2011 Cross References OCC 2011-4 Community Reinvestment Act Regulations, 75 Fed. Reg. 82217 (Dec. 30, 2010)