Pennsylvania + Wall

By Peter Matheson

The following op-ed was published in The Hill on July 13, 2017. 

Free and fair trade agreements, like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), expand opportunities for American companies to compete in global markets. Through them, the Trump administration can meet its stated goals to increase exports, create American jobs and boost U.S. economic growth.

Trade agreements allow our nation's financial services firms to facilitate economic growth and development by broadening the range of vehicles for savings and investment, lowering the cost of capital for businesses and entrepreneurs and expanding the markets that customers in manufacturing, agriculture and other sectors can sell into. 

NAFTA already helps the U.S. benefit from its competitive advantage in financial services. We have a $4.3-billion surplus in financial services trade with Canada and a $1.1-billion surplus with Mexico, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  

Yet, the world has changed a lot since NAFTA was enacted in 1994. Since then, the financial services sector - like many other sectors - has integrated new technologies, offered better goods and services and complied with a regulatory regime that is constantly evolving. 

A NAFTA modernization can bring our current agreement fully into the 21st century. The U.S. Trade Representative set the negotiation clock ticking on May 18, with a 90-day notification to Congress, which would allow negotiations to begin this summer.  Continue reading ....... Read more...

For the first time since the Federal Reserve launched its stress tests seven years ago, all of America's largest banks have been cleared to release dividends to shareholders after passing the qualitative portion of the tests. Appearing on BloombergTV, SIFMA President and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. voiced the industry’s support of stress tests to ensure market stability but noted there could be more transparency and more efficient application in the process. "The burden of regulation is such that it can begin to tax the system... Are these rules doing what we want them to do?"

By Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. 

The following op-ed was published in The Hill February 9, 2017.

Over the last several days there has been a fair amount of chatter around the Department of Labor's pending fiduciary rule, which we believe could make retirement saving more difficult for many Americans.  I'd like to set the record straight. 

First, the industry has been working diligently over the past eighteen months to prepare to comply with the rule before it becomes applicable on April 10, 2017.  Our member firms have undertaken this effort not because we agree with the rule, either in whole or in part, but rather if it's the law, we comply. The industry will endeavor to undertake what its regulators task it to do, but that doesn't mean the rule is without flaws (it isn't), or that the implementation timeline wasn't realistic (it wasn't), or that the implementation timetable demanded by the rule won't have consequences (it will). Continue Reading....... Read more...

By Casey Dowd and Lisa Bleier

The following Q&A with Casey Dowd was originally published on FOXBusiness.com on November 6, 2016. 

For senior investors, a financial advisor should be the key to detecting suspicious activity on money accounts, such as overly aggressive investments or unusual asset movements. Investment fraud targeting unsuspecting seniors can wreak havoc on a retirement nest egg.

SIFMA recently partnered with FINRA, hosting a Senior Investor Protection Conference that focused on strategies and solutions to help financial advisors strengthen their roles as the first line of defense against threats to their senior clients.

Lisa Bleier, Managing Director and Associate General Counsel, SIFMA, discussed with FOXBusiness.com what both advisors and investors should know when it comes to protecting retirement funds.

 Read the full article here at www.foxbusiness.com..... Read more...

By Randy Snook

Regulations implemented in the wake of the financial crisis have had a number of consequences - both intended and unintended - on consumers, households, and venture capital firms, ranging from limited access to credit and mortgages to disrupting supply chains, according to analysts and end users who spoke at SIFMA's Annual Meeting, The Capital Markets Conference.

The verdict on the Dodd-Frank financial regulations is mixed, said Justin Schardin, director of the Financial Regulatory Reform Initiative at the Bipartisan Policy Center. "Our goal here is to find ways to improve regulation that's out there… But whenever you make change of this kind of magnitude, there's no way to escape unintended consequences," he argued.

Schardin, who recently coauthored a report analyzing the post-crisis financial regulatory structure, said there are a few common and opposing assessments of the reform..... Read more...

By David Strongin

Momentum is building to align the financial system to support sustainable development and economic growth. In the last six months, a range of market and policy actions have been taken that support the growth of green finance such as:

• The green bond market is booming, fueled by investor demand, new regulations and strategic investment needs, as well as China’s entry into the market.
• National leadership continues to be a driving force, e.g. China adopting a ground-breaking plan to green its financial system; EU committing to a strategic review of sustainable finance.
• UN Environment has identified over 200 innovative policy and regulatory measures that have been taken across 60 countries to link finance and sustainability.
• G20 Leaders issued the first communiqué that includes green finance, and the Financial Stability Board is exploring climate risks across the financial system.
• Sustainability is becoming a competitiveness factor for some of the world’s financial centers, including Hong Kong, Nairobi, London, and Paris.

Momentum is to be applauded, but is not enough to deliver financing to meet the climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, which can also lead to additional economic growth. Further policy and market reform is necessary to bring green finance into the mainstream of the financial infrastructure.
On Friday, October 7, 2016, organizations from around the globe met in Washington, DC before the IMF and World Bank annual meetings to discuss ways to meet this transformational challenge..... Read more...

This post was originally published in the print edition of IFLR on September 26, 2016.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) is the voice of the US securities industry while the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA) brings together three of the world's biggest financial trade associations to address the global regulatory agenda.

Unsurprisingly then, SIFMA's managing director of international policy & advocacy, Peter Matheson, and GFMA's executive director, David Strongin, are perfectly placed to tackle the regulatory initiatives affecting cross-border finance.

Here they discuss global regulatory coherence since 2009 and the challenges such cooperation faces, post-Brexit uncertainty and more. .... Read more...