Posted on March 22, 2010 by Hunton & Williams LLP Print This Article

Senate Banking Committee Approves Dodd Financial Reform Legislation

Today the Senate Banking Committee voted along parties lines, 13-10, to send Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd's (D-CT) financial reform legislation to the Senate floor.  The vote comes after hundreds of amendments were submitted in anticipation of today's Senate Banking Committee mark up, but in a surprise move Republican members of the committee withdrew their amendments essentially allowing for the bill's approval in committee.  Today's vote is a precursor to the bill being taken up on the Senate floor for passage, and should it be successful it would then have to be reconciled with the House version previously passed.  Chairman Dodd released his revised draft legislation on March 22, 2010 and his original version in November of 2009.

Posted on March 18, 2010 by Hunton & Williams LLP Print This Article

Senator Dodd's Proposed Legislation Would Impact Private Fund Advisers

On March 15, 2010, Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) unveiled a revised draft of proposed legislation, the “Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010” (the “RAFSA”), for consideration by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. The RAFSA includes expansive financial industry regulatory reforms, including the “Private Fund Investment Advisers Registration Act of 2010” (the “PFIARA”). The PFIARA, as proposed by Senator Dodd, is similar to a prior version of the PFIARA included in H.R. 4173, which passed the House of Representatives on December 11, 2009. If passed by Congress and signed into law in its present form, the PFIARA could have a significant impact on advisers to certain private funds, including hedge funds, private equity funds and permanent capital vehicles, by (1) requiring the registration of certain unregistered advisers under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Advisers Act”), and (2) imposing additional reporting and disclosure requirements on investment advisers, including those already registered under the Advisers Act. The Dodd version of the PFIARA lays out a framework for regulation of private fund advisors, but delegates to the SEC rulemaking authority for many of the details concerning the types of advisers that may face additional regulatory burden.

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Posted on March 15, 2010 by Hunton & Williams LLP Print This Article

Senate Banking Chairman Releases New Financial Overhaul Draft Bill

Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-CT) released a revised draft of his financial overhaul legislation today.  Today's draft bill differs in some regards to the proposed legislative language previously released by Chairman Dodd in November 2009.  Notably, the new language provides for the Federal Reserve to oversee any bank holding company with more than $50 billion in assets and would house a consumer watchdog entity, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with its own budget and rule making authority within the Federal Reserve.  The revised bill also now provides for large financial institutions to pay into an upfront $50 billion fund that would be used to liquidate a failing institution.  Although the new legislation does not automatically implement the so-called Volcker Rule, which places certain restrictions on banks when using their own funds, it does provide for the administration of the Volcker Rule after a study by the nine member Financial Stability Oversight Council, which would be chaired by the Treasury Secretary with other members from the Federal Reserve Board, the SEC, the CFTC, OCC, FDIC, FHFA, and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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Posted on March 11, 2010 by Hunton & Williams LLP Print This Article

FDIC Approves Safe Harbor Protection Extension for Securitizations

Today the FDIC approved an extension of safe harbor protections for certain transactions involving the transfer of financial assets by a depository institution performing the transfer in a connection with a securitization or participation.  The move directly relates to changes made by the Financial Accounting Standards Board that went into effect on November 12, 2009.  Today's extension creates a safe harbor for certain types of transactions through September 30, 2010.

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Posted on March 11, 2010 by Hunton & Williams LLP Print This Article

Sen.Dodd to Release New Financial Regulatory Reform Draft Legislation

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-CT) announced today that he will release a revised draft of his proposed financial regulatory reform legislation on Monday, March 15, 2010.  Chairman Dodd also indicated he plans to markup the proposed legislation the week of March 22, 2010.  The new draft will be a revision of his original proposal released in November 2009. 

Click here for Chairman Dodd's press release.