Anyone who thinks they can purchase out-of-money options immediately before a merger and hide their million-dollar profit by booking the transactions in the account of someone who shares their last name probably didn't have much of a future as a securities analyst.

The adopted changes to the bankruptcy decision are quite significant. In effect, they turn the creditors of FCMs into the guarantors of FCMs' obligations to customers. The same result may occur with respect to the creditors of a broker-dealer and its customer obligations. (The actions of the Lehman trustee in bankruptcy had similar effect). It's easy to see why this result might be popular politically, but whether the policy itself is good or not seems far from obvious. Effectively…

The fundamental debate between Commissioners Stein and Piwowar concerns the SEC's social disclosure requirements, which Commissioner Stein claims will effect a "modernized disclosure regime [that addresses such matters as] . . . diversity and inclusion." Commissioner Stein believes that "[t]oday, investors make their decisions based on an array of information, which goes beyond mere profit and loss" – a situation that in her view contrasts sharply with that of the past, when such social-…

There is no justification for setting the CFPB's budget outside of congressional processes. As the Republican's press release notes, the Pentagon and the Justice Department have their budgets approved by Congress. Is the CFPB more important than those agencies? Even if one believes that protecting consumers from banks is more important morally than protecting citizens from enemies, what does that say about the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human…