Friday, May 29, 2009

Banks try to halt derivative reform

Why wouldn't they? It's their biggest profit center. The banks don't even want to report the trades!

The battle lines are being drawn in the derivatives market, as Wall Street tries to pre-empt new laws that could drain a big source of banks' profits.

A group of banks and money managers will next week present a plan designed to help fend off some rules proposed by the Obama administration, which wants to reform trading practices in the market for over-the-counter derivatives.

Wall Street banks with large derivative-trading businesses have been outwardly supportive of greater regulatory oversight of the $684 trillion market. But behind the scenes, there has been hand-wringing over the details of certain proposals and discussions about how the industry can help shape the rules. Many bankers are against mandatory exchange-trading and real-time price reporting of trades.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124355213446564401.html