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Daily Archives: April 12, 2011

Federal Reserve Testimony on Derivatives Regulation

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Federal Reserve Governor Daniel K. Tarullo – Derivatives regulation, Before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., April 12, 2011

  • “The Dodd-Frank Act addressed both the infrastructure of the derivatives markets and the regulation and supervision of its dealers and major participants. Central counterparties are given an expanded role in the clearing and settling of swap and security-based swap (hereafter referred to as “swap”) transactions, and the Board believes benefits can flow from this reform. Since 2005, Federal Reserve staff members have worked with market participants to strengthen the infrastructure for OTC derivatives, including developing and broadening the use of central clearing mechanisms and trade repositories. Market participants have already established central counterparties that provide clearing services for some OTC interest rate, energy, and credit derivatives contracts. If properly designed, managed, and overseen, central counterparties offer an important tool for managing counterparty credit risk, and thus they can reduce risk to market participants and to the financial system. Both central counterparties and trade repositories also support regulatory oversight and policymaking by providing more-comprehensive data on the derivatives markets. The Board is committed to continuing to work with other authorities, both in the United States and abroad, to ensure that a largely consistent international approach is taken to central counterparties and trade repositories and that their risk-reducing benefits are realized.”

    • The Economics of the Mortgage Servicers Settlement

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    HousingWire – Iowa AG says servicer settlement study flawed: “A study concerning the impending settlement between state attorneys general and mortgage servicers was deemed flawed and inaccurate by the man leading the investigation into servicing practices. The study in question was conducted by three academics from universities around the country that found the settlement, which… Continue Reading

    Gallup – In UK, One in Four Britons Smoke, Are Obese

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    News release: “More than one in four British adults smoke and one in four are obese, increasing the country’s collective risk for chronic conditions. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index also reveals that rates of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes among British adults increase sharply after age 45. Obesity rates in the U.K. increase into… Continue Reading

    New GAO Reports: Financial Literacy, Information Technology, Tax Administration

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    Financial Literacy: The Federal Government’s Role in Empowering Americans to Make Sound Financial Choices, GAO-11-504T, April 12, 2011 Information Technology: Continued Improvements in Investment Oversight and Management Can Yield Billions in Savings, GAO-11-511T, April 12, 2011 Tax Administration: Preliminary Information on Selected Foreign Practices That May Provide Useful Insights, GAO-11-540T, April 12, 2011 Continue Reading

    Survey Finds Graduate-School Applications From Foreign Students Continue to Rise

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    Findings from the 2011 Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) International Graduate Admissions Survey Phase I: Applications – April 2011: “This analysis responds to member institutions’ concerns about continuing changes in the enrollment of students from abroad seeking master’s and doctoral degrees from U.S. colleges and universities. International students currently comprise about 15.5% of all students… Continue Reading

    National Archives Announces Newly-Identified Papers of Walt Whitman

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    Famous poet’s writings as a Federal employee shed new light on his life and work: “The National Archives today announced the identification of nearly 3,000 Walt Whitman documents written during his service as a Federal government employee. This trove of information–conclusively identified as Whitman’s papers for the first time by University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) scholar… Continue Reading

    Happy National Library Week: Librarians: Masters of the info universe

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    Kerith Page McFadden, librarian at CNN for the past 12 years wrote today: “Librarians, information specialists, knowledge managers or whatever title a librarian might have — their skills are in high demand. And, though you might not know it, they are everywhere…At a time where anyone can Google just about anything, librarians don’t just find… Continue Reading

    FTC, CFTC Agree to Share Information on Energy Investigations

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    News release: “As part of their ongoing efforts to keep markets that they oversee open and fair for American consumers, the Federal Trade Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that they signed an agreement to foster further cooperation between the two agencies by helping them share nonpublic information. The FTC and CFTC… Continue Reading

    Report: Incompetent Research Skills Curb Users' Problem Solving

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    Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, April 11, 2011: “Users increasingly rely on individual pages listed by search engines instead of finding better ways to tackle problems. Although some analysts questioned the finding of search dominance, it’s a user behavior that gets stronger every year. Today, many users are so reliant on search that it’s undermining their problem-solving… Continue Reading