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U.S. Chamber Releases Agenda Addressing Shortfalls, Missed Opportunities in Dodd-Frank 

U.S. Chamber Releases Guidelines to Promote Transparency and Good Governance for Proxy Advisory Firms

Survey: How Main Street Businesses Use Financial Services

As part of the 7th Annual Capital Markets Summit, CCMC released data detailing how non-financials use the capital markets. We interviewed and surveyed more than 200 corporate treasurers and CFOs. Key-Findings:

• Choice & Diversity Are Paramount
• Choice + Diversity = Flexibility
• Ineffective Regulations = Reduced Choices And Increased Costs
• As A Result, Main Street Businesses Tend To Favor Trends & Policies That Preserve Choice

Financial Regulatory Reform: 2013 Report Card

This report card evaluates the progress being made by regulators and policymakers to achieve modern, well-regulated, fair, transparent, and vibrant capital markets. It looks both at the implementation of The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 as well as key regulatory reform issues not addressed by the law. By all accounts, regulatory reform is still incomplete. So, for those unfinished reforms outlined in this report, CCMC assigns a grade, in addition to an incomplete, based on regulators’ progress to date. This report also provides suggestions for how regulators and Congress can bring up the grade to ensure that the ultimate outcome of regulatory reform is a robust capital formation system that benefits consumers, investors, and job creators. Failure to get this right will deprive job creators of the investments, loans, and other forms of credit they need.
 

FAR Agenda: Ensuring Competitive Markets and Preserving Access to Capital

We released the “Fix, Add, Replace (FAR) Agenda” outlining the Center’s priorities for meaningful financial regulatory reform. The FAR agenda tackles specific provisions of Dodd-Frank that need to be fixed, such as margin rules for derivatives, either because they are not working as intended or because regulators have indicated they need additional guidance or legislation from Congress.  It also identified financial regulatory reform areas that were left unaddressed in Dodd Frank, such as improving coordination among regulators.  And, it identifies some areas that need to be replaced because they simply do not work – such as the Volker Rule. The FAR Agenda aims to examine and answer some basic questions:

• Are there areas where Dodd-Frank simply isn’t working as intended or where regulators need further clarity from Congress?  How do we fix these?
• What additional steps should we take in areas that were left unaddressed in Dodd-Frank?  For example, should we consolidate regulators or at a minimum ensure more effective coordination among the dozens of financial regulators?
• Are there provisions of Dodd-Frank that simply don’t work and need to be replaced?