Monday, April 27, 2015 Recap: Credit Detail, More CFTC Charges, Puzzling Low T-Yields, and the Fed Testifies Before The Senate

• The New York Fed  announced that it would publish detail on credit at the community level.
• The  CFTC filed charges against My Global Leverage, LLC (MGL) and its owner Toney Blondo Eggleston, of Newport Coast, California.
• The CFTC charged Inter-Global Currency & Precious Metals, LLC (IGCPM) of Pompano Beach, Florida, and its owner Stavros Papastavrou, of Delray Beach.
• The Office of Financial Research (OFC) published another interesting paper entitled The Puzzle of Low U.S. Treasury Yields.  
• Mark E. Van Der Weide, Deputy Director of the Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation testified on behalf of the Federal Reserve before the U.S. Senate. 
  

A summary of federal regulatory actions and government announcements for investors on Friday, April 24, 2015: 

The New York Fed  announced it would publish detail on credit at the community level on May 4. The release will be in the form of interactive maps across the U.S. The profiles will provide an indication on the credit status of the nation down to the community level.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed charges against My Global Leverage, LLC (MGL) and its owner Toney Blondo Eggleston, of Newport Coast, California. The charges allege that Eggleston engaged in illegal "off-exchange transactions in precious metals with retail customers on a leveraged, margined, or financed basis." Employees solicited retail customers by telephone. Over the time period in question, ~12 customers paid $786,000 each to MGL. Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, these transactions -- leveraged, margined, or financed transactions -- are considered illegal unless they result in "actual delivery of metal within 28 days". To read the full charge click the link above.

In a similar case, the CFTC also charged Inter-Global Currency & Precious Metals, LLC (IGCPM) of Pompano Beach, Florida, and its owner Stavros Papastavrou, of Delray Beach, Florida.The order calls for restitution in the amount of $447,342, and "permanently bans IGCPM and Papastavrou from registering, trading, soliciting, and engaging in other CFTC-regulated activities." 

The Office of Financial Research (OFC) published another interesting paper entitled The Puzzle of Low U.S. Treasury Yields. The authors compared historical yields in long-term bonds and found that the persistence of low long-term yields could lead to "excessive borrowing or investor risk-taking."

Source: Bloomberg L.P., Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Finally, Mark E. Van Der Weide, Deputy Director of the Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation testified on behalf of the Federal Reserve before the U.S. Senate. He spoke with others from the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) of the U.S. Treasury, the National  Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), and the independent insurance member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) about the current regulatory work around international and domestic insurance. 

Upcoming Events

On Wednesday, April 29, there will be an open meeting at 10am at SEC Headquarters, followed by a closed meeting at 12pm. 

On Thursday, April 30, at 2pm SEC Chair Mary Jo White will give the keynote remarks at the 35th Annual Ray Garrett Corporate and Securities Law Institute. Keith Higgins, Director, Division of Corporation Finance, and Shelley Parratt, Deputy Director, Division of Corporation Finance, will also participate.

Location: Northwestern University School of Law, Thorne Auditorium, 375 East Chicago Ave., Chicago

Contact: Peter Skrabacz, 312-503-4213, peter.skrabacz@law.northwestern.edu

Last Week In Review

• Monday, April 20, 2015 Recap: Treasury Auctions, FX Ponzi, BlackRock Fail, Dudley's Fed Speech, and the FFER 
• Tuesday, April 21, 2015 Recap: More Regulation For Large Banks, Youth Savings, Piwowar's Speech, Flash Crash Culprit, the OFAC & FNRG Halted
• Wednesday, April 22, 2015 Recap: #EXIM2015, Obama's PPPs, Goldman Sachs In The "Dark", $1.5M Payday, Massad Speaks, and Yellen Stabilizes
• Thursday, April 23, 2015 Recap: GDP, Deutsche Bank, Community Banks, Repos, and the Treasury Gets New Blood 
• Friday, April 24, 2015 Recap: New Federal Reserve Auditor, Inventories Up, CEI Same, Insider Trading, Fair Fund Delays & Alizadeh's Grand Jury Indictment