Why the Gridlock Slowing New Rules for Wall Street Won't Go Away

[Purveyor]

The long wait by Wall Street’s top regulator for a full slate of commissioners may soon end. That doesn’t mean the partisan fights over rules and corporate punishments that have stalled action at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will stop.

Democrat Lisa Fairfax, a George Washington University law professor, and Republican Hester Peirce, a senior research fellow at George Mason University, will testify before lawmakers Tuesday, almost five months after President Barack Obama nominated them to join the SEC. While Fairfax’s Senate confirmation would be a win for liberal groups that have vilified banks, Peirce has been a consistent critic of the massive regulatory expansion that’s occurred since the financial crisis.

The contrast could mean that consensus will continue to evade SEC Chair Mary Jo White, including on high-profile rules for mutual funds and stock trading that she would like to get done before the end of the Obama administration. The two SEC nominations also show that bipartisan anger toward Wall Street means people with market expertise are being passed over for top roles at financial regulators. Instead, the jobs are going to candidates with stronger political ideologies.

“Nothing is going to change, I don’t think it eases the path at all to a highly productive agenda that this administration would like to see," said Donald Langevoort, a securities law professor at Georgetown University. “Showing a willingness for openness to different points of view has gone out of favor -- both in Congress and at the SEC -- which is scary.”
Cheese Cellar

Fairfax and Peirce’s candidacies must be approved by the Senate Banking Committee before a vote by the full Senate. Should they join the SEC, they would be among five officials who get a say on the agency’s policies and enforcement actions. The regulator hasn’t had a complete roster of commissioners in five months and has been down to three members since December.

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-14/why-the-gridlock-slowing-new-rules-for-wall-street-won-t-go-away

[Baobab]

1. CHECKMATE ON AMERICA- the REAL reason is TRADE AGREEMENTS BLOCK ANY NEW RULES, my friends.

there are STANDSTILL and ROLLBACK* and RATCHET rules in new and existing trade deals that block any new regulations on financial services (including health insurance!) and which - if its challenged by a injured party (a multinational corporations home country) such as a bank mayrequire any new regs that adversely effect profits - like too big to fail regs or Glass-Steagall II or ACA.. be rolled back to 1998:

*See the definition under "MECHANISMS FOR STANDSTILL, ROLLBACK AND LISTING OF COUNTRY SPECIFIC RESERVATIONS" in the MAI.

also:

http://www.consumersinternational.org/media/1402116/tacd-finance-resolution-on-trade-rules-and-financial-regulation-green.pdf

http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/2011/05/new-memo-on-wto-conflict-with-measures-to-fight-too-big-to-fail-banks.html

https://www.citizen.org/documents/memo-gats-conflict-with-bank-size-limits-may-10-2011.pdf

https://www.citizen.org/documents/FinanceReregulationFactSheetFINAL.pdf