DC Insiders Say New Financial Regulation May Yet Pass in 2010

According to a new poll, 76% of Washington insiders say financial regulation will head to desk of President Obama in 2010. The House in December passed a wide-ranging package of regulations. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Dodd said Friday bipartisan negotiations on his panel reached an impasse and that he would draft overhaul legislation by the end of February. See more poll results from The Hill and comments posted there.

Meanwhile WSJ reports that Group of Seven (G-7) financial leaders have yet to reach a consensus on how to overhaul regulation of their financial sectors.

G-7 has become overshadowed by the larger Group of 20, which also represents emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil. G-7 financial leaders said they would continue meeting in a more informal fashion that won't include release of cooperative statements.

Harsh Criticism from Watchdog Monitoring $700 Billion Bailout

The watchdog charged with monitoring $700 billion government bailout unleashed one of his harshest criticisms of the program to date, questioning its overall effectiveness.

In his latest quarterly report to Congress, special inspector general Neil Barofsky said that the TARP failed to boost bank lending as well as halt the spread of foreclosures -- two key aims of the sprawling program. More at CNN Money.

FINRA Guidance for Brokers' Social Networking

FINRA Regulatory Notice 10-06 clarifies responsibilities to supervise the use of social networking sites to ensure suitabliliy of recommendations and that customers are not misled. The Notice also addresses recordkeeping and other responsibilities. Each firm must develop its own policies and procedures — in the context of its own particular business model and compliance and supervisory programs.

Helping to form the guidance was a Task Force of Compliance Officers and others from 14 FINRA member firms. Click for Press release and Notice.

Option Symbology Changes Scheduled for 2/12 - Are You Ready?

Option symbols have been confusing for many. Option symbols will soon be new & improved. Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) joined with industry representatives to devise the Options Symbology Initiative (OSI).
Industry expects to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on infrastructure and software alterations. The Options Pricing Regulatory Authority (OPRA) mandated a simpler method for reporting factors like options symbols, prices, and dates, though many Options firms are concerned about costs and adaptation to the new standards.

Your Options Technology staff should be set, but now is a good time to review the new symbology. On 2/9 at 12-1:00 PM Central, you or your clients can join an Instructor with The Options Institute, the CBOE educational arm, as he discusses what these changes will look like and what this means for options investors. Operations-wise you can view a PowerPoint from the 2009 SIFMA Operations Conference Options Symbolgy Panel.

Citi '09 Cash Bonus Cap below $100K; JPM I-Bank $379K ea.; Goldman Delay

Goldman Delays Release of Bonus Details. Had been expected to give staff the outline of their bonuses today (1/19)- before full-year results are released.
Article from Reuters via ABC News

UPDATE: JP Morgan's 24,654 investment bankers, including nearly 5,000 in London, will get an average of $379,000 each. Guardian UK: JPM "surfed a wave of recovery in global markets to notch up" year-end profits of $11.7bn, more than double its earnings of $5.6bn during crisis-stricken 2008. "These obscene bonuses paid so soon after the world's taxpayers had to rescue the banking system show that there is something fundamentally wrong in the relationship between banking and the rest of society."

NYT summary: Citi hopes the move will help deflect bonuse outrage, FT noted. However, it could also make it harder for the struggling behemoth to retain its top talent, The Financial Times said. Like its rivals, Citi will pay a large part of banker and trader bonuses in stock that could not be sold for a number of years. The bonus pool for 2009 is likely to be on par with that of 2008, the report said. Current Investment Bank, Accounting and Legal Opportunities click here and Subscribe to RSS Feed here.

CCO for Retail Broker-Dealer and Attorney needed for Institutional Brokerage

New York-based Broker-Dealer Opportunities.

FINRA Member Broker-Dealer is looking for a Chief Compliance Officer. Must have minimum of 5 years of experience. Should have been a CCO or reported to directly to the CCO in a retail environment, that offers Research and Underwriting activities. Municipal and Options Securities preferred. See more and APPLY.

Regulatory Compliance Attorney needed to service legal and regulatory matters for a wide array of products and services. The Company deals in equities, derivatives, US Treasuries, various fixed income desks, futures and foreign stocks. It offers electronic trading and asset management services.

Requirements:
-Must have in-house experience preferably with a large-to-mid-size Investment Bank supporting Institutional Brokerage activities covering Fixed Income and Equity markets.
Please read more about this Opportunity and APPLY.

Radio, Radio - Rare Opportunity

This is a rare opportunity to play a key leadership role in public broadcasting and to build a powerful NY radio station and brand known for excellence and innovation.
Submission Deadline: January 22, 2010
See More or contact Stuart Rosenthal.

Radio Gaga and four other Rock genre selections.

Bright Spot in Disappointing Jobs Report: Financial-Activities sector

If you only read the general media reports such as U.S. Job Losses in December Dim Hopes for Quick Upswing - it sure doesn't seem to include bright news.

As reported in the Investment News, one bright spot in the disappointing jobs report was the fact that the financial-activities sector of the economy added jobs for the first time since July 2007. Financial activities showed a net gain of 4,000 jobs in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. According to Bloomberg, that’s the first gain since the summer of 2007.

Excluding real-estate jobs, the number was even better. Finance and insurance alone added 9,900 jobs last month, also the first increase since July 2007. “The general idea is that the economy is turning, the financial sector is turning, and this is unequivocally a positive,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak. The broader question, Greenhaus said, is how fast other sectors can turn around and boost the economy. Based on the overall middling numbers, “It doesn’t look like we’re set up for an explosion of job growth” like that U.S. economy has experienced following other recessions, Tabak said.

Wilco: Will Comply...Weekend Musical Diversion

In an interview, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy answered the question: Why is the band called Wilco? Tweedy said "it means 'will comply'in radio signaling and struck me as an ironic name for a rock band, which is historically responsible for not complying."

See and hear Wilco's Jeff Tweedy - perform "I'll Fight" (Live at Farm Aid 25)or the full Band Live in Concert on October 8th 2009.


Full Interview Published: July 2009. This week Wilco announced East Coast dates for its 2010 tour.

Employment Search Review for You and a Financial Star

THE beginning of the year offers a good opportunity to review every element of an employment search, from résumés to thank-you notes. Take a good look. Mishandling just one piece of the process could keep you from getting a job. Here is a checklist that covers some of the major links in the job search chain.


Read on about one of the few 'stars' to emerge from the financial crisis and his path to a new job: Neel Kashkari, the former Bush administration bailout chief. In December, he went to work as head of new investment initiatives at Pimco. Pimco said in a statement that Kashkari’s first task would be to recruit new employees and help build a new division to invest in stocks.

The people with knowledge of his employment search said that Kashkari met Pimco Founder William Gross while touring the country with the Treasury secretary in December 2007 to assess the country’s troubled housing market. Neither Pimco nor Kashkari would discuss how he ended up at the company or how he would be compensated. But people familiar with his job search said he wanted to work for a company where he could start a new business — just as he had with the relief fund for the federal government. More from the NY Times on "Neel Kashkari’s Quiet Path to Pimco".

Madoff Christmas Gift

Should you have missed the Christmas Eve news, Bernie Madoff landed in the hospital. Official account says that he "fell out of bed." Local TV station reported, "Madoff came to Duke with facial fractures, broken ribs and a collapsed lung."

Gary Weiss noted you don't get that from 'falling out of the bunk' or from "high blood pressure."

Outsize Fees Provide Funhouse-Mirror Distortion

Wall Street is seeing a special kind of payday. Outsize fees are even providing a bit of funhouse-mirror distortion to so-called league tables, which rank banks based on the size of the deals they handle each quarter. Banks that were in such bad shape that they needed the government’s aid are now getting bragging rights from raising money to replace the capital they have returned to the government.

Citi, Wells Fargo and Bank of America have now returned their federal bailout money and raised new capital to replace it. More than $50 billion of new capital was raised as part of the effort by the biggest banks to repay TARP and get out from under the thumb — and pay caps — of Washington. All told, December was the biggest month in history for offerings.

See more in the NY Times’ latest DealBook column.

Shrunken Compliance, Internal Audit Staff / ICAP, 5 RRs Settle SEC Charges for Displaying Fictitious Trades and Misleading Customers

Compliance and internal audit were not spared layoffs. According to a poll by Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, 27% of executives reported reductions in these areas in the past 18 months, despite the fact that compliance experts and internal auditors were heavily recruited just a few years ago, in the wake of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

As reported by CFO Magazine, for compliance staffers left behind, the role becomes more daunting. Particularly as companies cut travel budgets, the ability to do thorough site visits is limited, says Francis. "How does internal audit now execute their responsibilities?" she asks. "How can they be more strategic in their review and monitoring? There are lots of challenges facing the remaining personnel." More than ever, close coordination among internal audit, legal, and compliance personnel "is critical," she says.

Despite the reduction in compliance personnel, 50% of respondents to the Deloitte survey, who included CFOs, CEOs, board members, and middle managers in finance and risk management, said their compliance and ethics programs are strong. Another 36% said they are adequate. Many public companies and some private companies invested significantly in their compliance programs after the passage of Sarbox in 2002, notes Francis, and they may now feel confident that those programs are effective even with a reduced staff. But that confidence may not always be justified. "What seems to be slipping is the actual testing or review or active monitoring of transactions or behaviors," she points out. "That's the risk."

Meanwhile on Dec. 18 the SEC and the U.S. subsidiary of the world's largest inter-dealer broker, U.K.-based ICAP plc,settled fraud charges that alleged deceptive activity and material misrepresentations to customers concerning its trading activities. ICAP agreed to settle the SEC's charges by, among other things, paying $25 million in disgorgement and penalties. SEC additionally charged five ICAP brokers for aiding and abetting the firm's fraudulent conduct and two senior executives for failing reasonably to supervise the brokers. The individuals have each agreed to pay penalties to settle the SEC's charges.

Link to SEC ORDER INSTITUTING ADMINISTRATIVE AND CEASE-AND-DESIST PROCEEDINGS vs ICAP and Ronald A. Purpora, Gregory F. Murphy, Peter M. Agola, Ronald Boccio, Kevin Cunningham, Donald E. Hoffman, Jr., and Anthony Parisi

Job Search "Nightmare" for Madoff Employees

Bernie Madoff's former assistant, Eleanor Squillari (pictured) hopes to begin a new career in cosmetology. She knows she'll 'never get a job in finance.'

Madoff sons and other employees are frequently confronted with the notoriety, shame and anger synonymous with a firm that seemed to hum along quietly and profitably until a year ago. Even workers with no suspected connection to the Ponzi scheme say their careers there have come back to haunt them, with no end in sight.

"I'll never get a job in finance, and I'm one of the lucky ones," says Squillari. She went to beauty school this summer and plans to look for work at a hair salon while selling her handmade jewelry.

Mark Madoff recently met with a group of Wall Street contacts to get opinions on whether he could find another job in finance: He talked about working on a trading desk or in trading technology, asking to be kept in mind any openings.
More from WSJ via Google News.

Geithner criticizes regulators over Regulatory Overhaul - Compliance Opportunities loom

In an unusual meeting involving Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, FDIC. Chairwoman Sheila Bair and SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said "enough is enough" as he criticized the regulators for hindering progress of the financial regulatory overhaul, sources said. Although the revamp is a top priority for President Barack Obama, regulators and the financial-services industry have criticized the proposal. The Wall Street Journal

To explore Bank Regulatory Compliance opportunities. go to RosenthalRecruiting.com or contact Stuart@RosenthalRecruiting.com.
Not posted - current need is: Regulatory Reporting/Call Report experts ASAP: up to Director-level Opportunities for those with Bank Holding Company Regulatory and Basel reporting experience.

Bank Regulatory Compliance Advice Needed with the Fed, OCC or OTS

In anticipation and based on actual assignments, experience with a Federal Banking agency such as the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Office of Thrift Supervision is now needed for full-time employment with one prestigious Client of Rosenthal Recruiting. Responsibilities of these Positions include:
•Advising clients on a variety of regulatory advisory services that help meet bank holding company and banking compliance requirements.
•Analyzing policies, procedures, people, processes, and systems used by financial institutions to meet bank regulatory requirements and expectations.
•Designing and implementing quality, practical business approaches.
•Researching emerging trends, regulatory guidance, and best practices

Experience required includes 6+ years of experience with the Fed, OCC or OTS. Candidates with a minimum of 1 year of relevant experience with federal banking agency may apply for a less senior position.
Click here to read more and apply. These positions will be based at the Advisor's midtown office and will require travel up to 40% during the year.