Financial Reform — Week of April 25

Introduction

Lobbyists for a range of business interests are trying to dilute, delay or derail regulations required by the financial reform law. Here’s a look at Congressional hearings, rulemaking deadlines and other Dodd-Frank law events scheduled this week.

Monday, April 25

Credit ratings — Securities and Exchange Commission deadline for public comments on its proposal to set a standard of credit-worthiness to replace references to credit ratings in agency rules and regulations.

Swaps repository — Deadline set by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association for proposals to create a global repository to record all commodity over-the-counter derivatives trades beginning in January 2012.

Wednesday, April 27

SEC meeting — The Securities and Exchange Commission meets to discuss whether to propose joint rules with the Commodity futures Trading Commission about the definitions of “swap” and “security-based swap” as well as recordkeeping requirements. The SEC will also consider whether to remove credit rating references in existing agency rules. Meeting begins at 1000 ET.

CFTC meeting — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission meets to discuss capital requirements for swap dealers and major traders, and protection of cleared customer contracts. Meeting begins at 0930 ET.

Fed press conference — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke holds the first quarterly news conference after the Fed’s Open Market Committee meeting to set interest rates. News conference begins at 1415 ET.

Friday, April 29

Corporate pay — Securities and Exchange Commission deadline for public comments on its proposal to require company board of directors’ compensation committees to be independent. The proposal would also require companies to disclose in the annual proxy to shareholders if the committee hired a compensation consultant to help set pay packages and whether that same consultant was hired for other work at the company.

Swaps standards — Securities and Exchange Commission deadline for public comments on its proposal to require security-based swap clearing agencies to disclose pricing and to have procedures to address conflicts of interest.

Treasury streamlining — Treasury Department deadline for public comments on which existing regulations should be modified, expanded, streamlined, or repealed. The notice is to carry out of the Obama administration’s Jan. 18, 2011 executive order setting principles to promote public participation, analysis, flexibility and scientific integrity in existing federal rules.

Congress — Lawmakers return from the congressional spring break on May 2.

Lobbyist meetings with regulators

The sweeping Dodd-Frank financial reform law was enacted by Congress last summer after the U.S. banking crisis and housing collapse of 2008-09. But it left the details to more than a half-dozen agencies which are now drafting rules to regulate the multi-trillion-dollar derivatives market, set bank capital standards, oversee systemically-important financial institutions, encourage whistleblowers, track credit rating agencies’ accuracy, and create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.