regulation

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Feds Let Big Oil Fill Out Own Inspection Forms

Regulators also took gifts, openly hustled for oil company jobs

(Newser) - Minerals and Management Service regulators accepted gifts from the oil companies they were supposed to be watching over, and allowed those companies to fill out their own inspection reports, according to a damning report from the inspector general, which found sweeping misconduct at the agency from 2005 to 2007. One...

Who Regulates Big Oil? Big Oil

Investigation finds gaps in oversight, safety measures

(Newser) - Over the past decade, the federal agency tasked with monitoring offshore oil drillers has gradually ceded control to the industry itself, finds the Wall Street Journal . The Minerals Management Service doesn't actually write rules, but rather sets "broad goals" for drillers, an approach that is taking heat post-Gulf spill....

Court Smacks Down FCC in Net Neutrality Case

Agency had no standing to regulate Comcast, 3-judge panel rules

(Newser) - A federal court today said the FCC does not have the power to force Internet service providers to treat all traffic equally. The ruling, in a closely watched case concerning Comcast's ban on BitTorrent, is a blow to the Obama administration’s crusade for net neutrality. But the FCC failed...

US May Require Brake Override Systems

Obama administration 'looking at it,' LaHood says

(Newser) - The Obama administration is considering ordering automakers to install brake override systems in their new cars, Ray LaHood told the Senate Commerce Committee today. “We’re looking at it,” the transportation secretary said, in a hearing on the runaway Toyota problem. “We think it is a good...

Ex-Regulators Hired by Toyota Staved Off Recalls

Former NHTSA officials helped end four probes into accelerators

(Newser) - Two former employees of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration helped Toyota end at least four investigations into issues with its accelerators, according to court and government documents. Toyota’s VP of regulatory affairs, Christopher Tinto, and one of his subordinates, Christopher Santucci, came to the automaker directly from the...

Just Call These New Rules 'The Lloyd Blankfein Act'

Part of Obama's proposed regulations are aimed at Goldman and its CEO

(Newser) - One part of the new financial regulations proposed by President Obama today could be called the "Lloyd Blankfein Act" because it's aimed squarely at Goldman Sachs and its "unrepentant CEO," writes Daniel Gross. The proposal would prevent banks from taking FDIC-insured deposits and then doing "funky...

States Beg EPA to Delay Emission Rules

Regulators say they can't afford to enforce new standards

(Newser) - State regulators are pleading with the Obama administration to hold off on new rules curbing industrial greenhouse gas emissions, fretting that they're too costly for tapped-out budgets. Regulators from Kansas, Pennsylvania, Florida, California, and South Carolina have all chimed in, with varying levels of urgency, the Wall Street Journal reports....

Banks Screw Customers in Regulatory Pout
Banks Screw Customers in Regulatory Pout
OPINION
Jan 6, 2010 9:18 AM CST

Banks Screw Customers in Regulatory Pout

Fees soar in revenge for tougher rules in the works in Congress

(Newser) - With a slew of new regulations headed their way, banks are jacking up their fees and credit card rates, in a blatant attempt to squeeze every last penny out of their customers. They say they’re just trying to recoup the money these new consumer protections will cost them. For...

Health Care Bill a Bloated Mess
 Health Care Bill a Bloated Mess 
Charles Krauthammer
Nov 27, 2009 10:56 AM CST

Health Care Bill a Bloated Mess

Two-thousand page monster is 'irredeemable'

(Newser) - The Senate heath care reform bill is an “irredeemable” mess that would create “an overregulated, overbureaucratized system of surpassing arbitrariness and inefficiency,” rails Charles Krauthammer. The problem with our system is that it’s complicated and inefficient, and therefore expensive. But the 2,074-page Senate bill would...

Financial Reform: How to Prevent Another Greenspan
Financial Reform: How to Prevent Another Greenspan
Thomas Frank
Nov 11, 2009 9:44 AM CST

Financial Reform: How to Prevent Another Greenspan

Reform plans may hand regulation over to fervent deregulators

(Newser) - There's a lot riding on reform of the financial industry, but the administration's plans to overhaul financial regulation carries the seeds of its own destruction, writes Thomas Frank. Taking oversight away from the present confusing array of agencies and making the Federal Reserve One Big Regulator means that when the...

White House Move Bad News for Investors
White House Move Bad News for Investors
analysis
Nov 3, 2009 11:23 AM CST

White House Move Bad News for Investors

It's trying to weaken protections put in place after Enron

(Newser) - Belying its reputation as financial regulatory crusaders, the White House is quietly working to weaken a protection for everyday investors. Rahm Emanuel is pushing lawmakers to back an amendment that would exempt smaller companies from audits of their internal controls, sources tell the Huffington Post. The stricter controls, established by...

Dems Lash Out at Insurance Industry

They move to eliminate anti-trust exemption

(Newser) - All-out war broke out between the Democrats and the insurers today, with Chuck Schumer calling for an amendment to the health care bill that would remove the industry’s long-standing anti-trust immunity. Schumer called the exemption “one of the worst accidents of American history,” blaming it in part...

Obama to Wall Street: Prepare for Reform

(Newser) - President Obama visited Wall Street’s historic Federal Hall today, on the anniversary of Lehman Brothers' collapse, to make the case for the financial regulatory reforms wending their way through Congress. He spoke of the need for “strong rules of the road” for the financial system. “History cannot...

Banks Get Back to Risky Business as Usual

Plans to overhaul regulation losing momentum as banks return to health

(Newser) - Banks that teetered on the edge of extinction last year are returning to their old ways as the shock of the financial crisis fades, the Wall Street Journal reports. The banks are handing out hefty compensation packages again and dealing in the same risky financial instruments that caused last year's...

Frank Rewriting Wall Street Rules as Public Yawns

(Newser) - Barney Frank is working on the biggest legislation of his career, and no one seems to care. Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, is preparing for markup sessions on a bill to revolutionize America’s financial regulatory structure. “It’s been eclipsed obviously in the public’...

SEC Lacks Smarts Needed to Tackle Shadowy Trades

...but doesn't have the technology or know-how, critics say

(Newser) - The Securities and Exchange Commission is stepping up its efforts to shine light on the market’s more shadowy corners, examining flash quotes, high-frequency trades, and so-called “dark pools.” But the agency just doesn’t have the technology or trading know-how to keep up, experts tell the Wall ...

Feds Probe Shady Market for Derivatives

Banks may have unfair edge in information on credit-default swaps

(Newser) - The Justice Department is probing the market for credit-default swaps, the largely unregulated derivatives that contributed to the financial crisis, Bloomberg reports. Justice is investigating whether big banks have unfair access to price information through their ownership of a private company that provides data to investors. The Obama administration wants...

Docs: We'll Quit If Obama Lifts Bush Abortion Rules

Analysts: older regs let health workers avoid certain procedures

(Newser) - Some doctors who oppose abortion say they’ll quit their jobs if President Obama repeals Bush regulations that allow health care professionals to refuse to perform operations that are in opposition with their beliefs, NPR reports. A Christian Medical Association report found that “90% of those surveyed said they...

Congress Wary of Fed's Growing Power
Congress Wary of Fed's Growing Power
ANALYSIS
Jun 19, 2009 8:30 AM CDT

Congress Wary of Fed's Growing Power

After decades of deference, legislators turn on central bank

(Newser) - Tim Geithner testified before the Senate Banking Committee yesterday, but as the Washington Post reports, it's not the Treasury but the Fed whose growing powers most worry legislators. Republicans and Democrats are both venting that Ben Bernanke's office did little to stop the excesses of the boom years, only to...

Obama's Bank Plan Punts on Tough Parts
Obama's Bank Plan Punts on Tough Parts
OPINION
Jun 19, 2009 7:48 AM CDT

Obama's Bank Plan Punts on Tough Parts

Krugman, Pearlstein agree: It doesn't address key problems

(Newser) - Barack Obama knows what caused the financial crisis, but his regulatory plan “basically punts on the question of how to keep it from happening all over again,” writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times. Obama’s plan takes the crucial step of regulating the “shadow banking”...

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