English: Photo of CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In Surprise Exit, Bart Chilton to Depart Futures Commission
BY BEN PROTESS AND ALEXANDRA STEVENSON
Bart Chilton, the outspoken regulator whose colorful commentary on Wall Street positioned him as a fierce critic of the industry he helped oversee, announced on Tuesday that he was leaving his post at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a move that startled his colleagues and raised questions about the future of the agency….
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Proposed Rule Limits Size of Commodities Traders’ Positions
BY ALEXANDRA STEVENSON
…With the new rules the commission has proposed to apply these limitations more broadly to include derivative contracts for 28 different types of commodities future contracts, including agriculture contracts, energy and metal contracts, irrespective of the delivery date for a contract.
The proposal would allow exemptions for traders with bona fide hedging needs. Traders use the commodity futures markets to hedge against price fluctuations in the physical assets they hold. Equally, farmers will hedge the price of their crops, buying futures contracts to lock in the price of the product at a point in time before it is harvested.,,,
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Plosser: ‘Too big to fail’ still not solved
CNBC Videos
I think Dodd-Frank had to declare victory and moved on, says Charles Plosser, Philadelphia Federal Reserve president, commenting on bank regulations. I think the Fed needs to get out of the business of bailouts, Plosser added.
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SAC: A Textbook Case of Corporate Prosecution
BY JAMES B. STEWART
…Given the broader goals of the criminal code, SAC Capital may emerge as a textbook case for prosecuting companies — and a harbinger of far more aggressive prosecution of corporate crime….
The federal government has long prosecuted corporations whose managers engaged collectively in criminal behavior. “Corporations should not be treated leniently because of their artificial nature nor should they be subject to harsher treatment,” the Justice Department principles state. “Vigorous enforcement of the criminal laws against corporate wrongdoers, where appropriate, results in great benefits for law enforcement and the public.”
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SAC Capital Agrees to Plead Guilty to Insider Trading
BY PETER LATTMAN AND BEN PROTESS
…Mr. Cohen’s apparent nonchalance — even as the firm bearing his initials admitted it was a criminal organization — reflects what is missing from the plea deal. After more than a decade of poring over trading records, interviewing informants and issuing grand jury subpoenas, federal authorities have not been able to build a case against SAC’s billionaire owner.
Without such a case, Mr. Cohen could still be a force on Wall Street, which has long, deep relationships with SAC.
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Treasury to Auction Tarp Shares in Seven Banks
by CHRIS CUMMING
The Treasury Department plans to auction seven more lenders’ Troubled Asset Relief Program shares, with a total face value of about $90 million.
The auction began Monday and will run through Thursday, the Treasury announced. It is the latest in a series of auctions designed to wind down the Tarp program, which has 101 banks remaining, out of 707 that originally received funds.
