While criticism of the DOL's proposal by the sell-side (e.g., SIFMA) might have been discounted on the basis that the market sell-side was perhaps economically motivated to be opposed, it is harder to so discount such strong criticism from the ICI, many of whose members are in a position to benefit from a rule that is likely to discourage investors' use of brokers and to limit their range of investments. Likewise, the DOL's proposal has also been subject to significant criticism by other…

It is always good when Congress asks questions about the operations and effect of its legislation. It would be better, however, if Congress asked questions in advance of adopting legislation that could have a massive effect on the U.S. economy. Before Senator Warren and Representative Cummings ever voted to adopt Section 716, one hopes that they had some idea of the potential costs imposed by the legislation and its possible effect on the economy.

That said, it will be…

The SIFI designation program process is subjective and almost completely exempt from being subject to legal standards. FSOC has ten factors that it must consider – each of which is subjective – but it can determine which factors to consider, how to weigh them and which standards to apply; in other words, there are effectively no real legal standards. Writing a brief arguing that FSOC failed to reach a bar set so low is a tough task. That said, following FSOC's designation of…

Although this enforcement action was not taken against government officials directly, it is but one among several recent actions brought by the SEC that involve misrepresentations by municipalities. As municipalities come under increasing financial pressure, there is likely to be tension between the SEC, which seeks to raise standards of disclosure in the municipal debt markets, and government officials, who wish to talk down the interest rates that they must pay.