Latest news with #financialregulation
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Australia's Securities Regulator to Probe ASX After Collapsed Blockchain Project
Australia's Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has turned to three of the country's most seasoned finance figures to probe the inner workings of the Australian Securities Exchange, including the exchange's doomed blockchain project. ASIC launched the inquiry on June 16 over 'ongoing concerns' it and the Reserve Bank of Australia expressed about the exchange's ability to run stable and secure market plumbing. Those concerns intensified when ASX scrapped a blockchain-based upgrade to its CHESS settlement engine in 2022, forcing a costly reset and drawing political heat. ASIC later sued ASX over making misleading statements on the project. Rob Whitfield, a former Westpac chief risk officer and now a Commonwealth Bank director, will chair ASIC's panel. Joining him are Christine Holman, who sits on the boards of utility AGL and restaurant operator Collins Foods, and Guy Debelle, a Reserve Bank of Australia's former deputy governor. The trio will inspect ASX's governance, technical capability, and risk controls and recommend fixes for any weak spots. Their brief stretches across the entire ASX group, which handles more than A$6 billion ($3.92 billion) in trades each day.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate Republicans move to slash CFPB funding by half, risking hundreds of job cuts
NEW YORK (AP) — Senate Republicans have moved to cut the funding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by roughly half, as part of President Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill,' which is likely to lead to hundreds of job cuts at the nation's financial watchdog agency. It would be a major blow to the CFPB, which was created after the 2008 financial crisis to police potential bad actors in the financial services industry, and it would be a win for the GOP, who have largely wanted to make the CFPB go away since its creation. The CFPB is funded through the Federal Reserve, not the Congressional appropriations process. But in the latest version of the bill to come out of the Senate Banking Committee, the CFPB's funding would be cut from 12% of the Federal Reserve's profits to 6.5% of the central bank's profits. The CFPB requests its annual budget from the Fed every year, effectively as a line of credit from the central bank. It has never needed the entire 12% of the Fed's profits, but it has come close in previous years to using much of what the Fed would allocate to it. For example, last year the CFPB requested $762.9 million from the Fed, which was close to the transfer cap of $785.4 million. But cutting the transfer cap by roughly half would mean the CFPB would have to cut its budget significantly or seek to supplement its budget from Congress through the traditional appropriations process, a goal that Republicans have been seeking for years. 'The committee's language decreases the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) funding cap without affecting the statutory functions of the Bureau,' said Sen. Tim Scott, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Under President Biden, the bureau was a potent regulator that often gave banks and other financial services companies headaches on a regular basis. The previous director, Rohit Chopra, used the bureau to look into a broader array of financial services beyond the banks, investigating bad practices at credit card companies, payday lenders, buy now, pay later companies and other financial technology firms. The bureau has returned billions of dollars to consumers since its creation through its enforcement actions. But since President Trump came into office, the bureau has been effectively inoperable. Russell Vought, the President's budget director, is currently the acting director of the Bureau and has stopped all enforcement and supervision work, the bureau is not writing new rules or regulations and employees are being told not to communicate with banks or outside parties. Employees are logging in once or twice a day to check emails, but there is little supervisory or enforcement work happening at the bureau. Even emails to the CFPB's press office go unanswered. House Republicans held a hearing on Wednesday attacking Chopra's work, calling the former director and his appointees out-of-control bureaucrats who targeted small businesses vindictively. The CEO of a company labeled by the GOP as a small business — but was basically a chain of check cashing and payday lending shops — testified that she spent years having to go back and forth with the CFPB over its operations. The Senate Republicans' move comes after their original proposal to cut the CFPB's budget to zero was ruled in violation of Senate rules by the Senate Parliamentarian. Congressional Republicans are using a process known as 'reconciliation' to pass this bill, which only requires a 51-vote majority in the Senate to pass. This new proposal did pass Parliamentarian muster, but Senate Democrats are expected to fight to remove the provision on the floor. Donald Trump and Republicans tried to shut down the CFPB by gutting its entire operating budget to (zero),' said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, and also the original proposer of the CFPB nearly 20 years ago. 'Now, Senate Republicans will bring to the floor a proposal that slashes the agency's available budget so they can hand out more tax breaks for billionaires and billionaire corporations.' Ken Sweet, The Associated Press
Washington Post
9 hours ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Senate Republicans move to slash CFPB funding by half, risking hundreds of job cuts
NEW YORK — Senate Republicans have moved to cut the funding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by roughly half, as part of President Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill,' which is likely to lead to hundreds of job cuts at the nation's financial watchdog agency. It would be a major blow to the CFPB, which was created after the 2008 financial crisis to police potential bad actors in the financial services industry, and it would be a win for the GOP, who have largely wanted to make the CFPB go away since its creation.
Associated Press
9 hours ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Senate Republicans move to slash CFPB funding by half, risking hundreds of job cuts
NEW YORK (AP) — Senate Republicans have moved to cut the funding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by roughly half, as part of President Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill,' which is likely to lead to hundreds of job cuts at the nation's financial watchdog agency. It would be a major blow to the CFPB, which was created after the 2008 financial crisis to police potential bad actors in the financial services industry, and it would be a win for the GOP, who have largely wanted to make the CFPB go away since its creation. The CFPB is funded through the Federal Reserve, not the Congressional appropriations process. But in the latest version of the bill to come out of the Senate Banking Committee, the CFPB's funding would be cut from 12% of the Federal Reserve's profits to 6.5% of the central bank's profits. The CFPB requests its annual budget from the Fed every year, effectively as a line of credit from the central bank. It has never needed the entire 12% of the Fed's profits, but it has come close in previous years to using much of what the Fed would allocate to it. For example, last year the CFPB requested $762.9 million from the Fed, which was close to the transfer cap of $785.4 million. But cutting the transfer cap by roughly half would mean the CFPB would have to cut its budget significantly or seek to supplement its budget from Congress through the traditional appropriations process, a goal that Republicans have been seeking for years. 'The committee's language decreases the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) funding cap without affecting the statutory functions of the Bureau,' said Sen. Tim Scott, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Under President Biden, the bureau was a potent regulator that often gave banks and other financial services companies headaches on a regular basis. The previous director, Rohit Chopra, used the bureau to look into a broader array of financial services beyond the banks, investigating bad practices at credit card companies, payday lenders, buy now, pay later companies and other financial technology firms. The bureau has returned billions of dollars to consumers since its creation through its enforcement actions. But since President Trump came into office, the bureau has been effectively inoperable. Russell Vought, the President's budget director, is currently the acting director of the Bureau and has stopped all enforcement and supervision work, the bureau is not writing new rules or regulations and employees are being told not to communicate with banks or outside parties. Employees are logging in once or twice a day to check emails, but there is little supervisory or enforcement work happening at the bureau. Even emails to the CFPB's press office go unanswered. House Republicans held a hearing on Wednesday attacking Chopra's work, calling the former director and his appointees out-of-control bureaucrats who targeted small businesses vindictively. The CEO of a company labeled by the GOP as a small business — but was basically a chain of check cashing and payday lending shops — testified that she spent years having to go back and forth with the CFPB over its operations. The Senate Republicans' move comes after their original proposal to cut the CFPB's budget to zero was ruled in violation of Senate rules by the Senate Parliamentarian. Congressional Republicans are using a process known as 'reconciliation' to pass this bill, which only requires a 51-vote majority in the Senate to pass. This new proposal did pass Parliamentarian muster, but Senate Democrats are expected to fight to remove the provision on the floor. Donald Trump and Republicans tried to shut down the CFPB by gutting its entire operating budget to (zero),' said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, and also the original proposer of the CFPB nearly 20 years ago. 'Now, Senate Republicans will bring to the floor a proposal that slashes the agency's available budget so they can hand out more tax breaks for billionaires and billionaire corporations.'
The Independent
12 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
UK's financial watchdog launches probe into troubled Wood Group
Engineering giant Wood Group is being investigated by the UK's financial watchdog following an independent review which unearthed 'cultural failings' with its accounting practices. The Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) probe will look into the period between January 2023 and November 2024. The troubled Scottish group, which provides oilfield and engineering services, warned in April that it was having to restate its accounts from previous years. It also delayed the publication of results for the 2024 financial year, which were due at the end of April, meaning its shares have been suspended from trading on the London Stock Exchange since. This followed an independent review carried out by Deloitte finding 'material weaknesses and failures in the group's financial culture' within its projects business unit and the engagement with its group finance team. This included 'inappropriate management pressure' to maintain previously reported positions and 'over-optimism and/ or lack of evidence in respect of accounting judgements'. 'The cultural failings appear to have led to instances of information being inappropriately withheld from, and unreliable information being provided to, Wood's auditors,' the results found. The firm stressed there has since been significant change within the group and steps taken to address the failings discovered. Meanwhile, Aberdeen-based Wood Group has been the subject of a takeover approach by Dubai-based buyer Sidara. The latest offer, received in April, valued the company at around £242 million. A year ago, Sidara made a £1.56 billion takeover approach before talks collapsed – and Wood Group's share price has plummeted since.
