Money Talk: U.S. Securities Regulators File Record Number Of Enforcement Actions

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FDIC BOARD ADOPTS PROPOSAL TO HIKE DEPOSIT INSURANCE FUND TO 1.35% FOR BANKS: The Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has adopted a proposal to increase the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) to the statutorily required minimum level of 1.35%. Congress in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act increased the minimum for the DIF reserve ratio, the ratio of the amount in the fund to insured deposits, from 1.15% to 1.35%, and required that the ratio reach 1.35% by September 30, 2020.

The Dodd-Frank Act also made banks with $10 billion or more in total assets responsible for the increase from 1.15% to 1.35%. The proposed rule approved last week would impose on banks with at least $10 billion in assets a surcharge of 4.5 cents per $100 of their assessment base, after making certain adjustments. The FDIC expects the reserve ratio would likely reach 1.35% after approximately two years of payments of the proposed surcharges.

The primary purposes of the DIF are to protect the depositors of insured banks and to resolve failed banks. After being depleted during the recent financial crisis, the DIF has risen for the past 5-1/2 years to $67.6 billion as of June 30. The reserve ratio at the end of June was 1.06%.

U.S. CONSUMERS GETTING STINGY AHEAD OF HOLIDAY SHOPPING SEASON – More than three in five Americans are limiting their spending each month ahead of the holiday shopping season, according to a new survey by Bankrate.com. Twenty-eight percent of consumers cite stagnant income as the main reason for cutting back on their monthly budgets, followed by 25% who claim they need to save more. Other reasons include worries about the economy (18%) and too much debt (10%).

Americans between the ages of 50 and 64 are the stingiest with (73% are holding back their spending. Those who are 65 and older are the freest spenders as only 48% are restricting their expenses. Millennials are more than twice as likely as other age groups to say they’re limiting their spending because they need to save more. Read more here.

U.S. SECURITIES REGULATORS FILE RECORD NUMBER OF ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS IN FISCAL 2015: For the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed 807 enforcement actions covering a wide range of misconduct, and obtained orders totaling approximately $4.2 billion in disgorgement and penalties.

Of the 807 enforcement actions filed in fiscal year 2015, a record 507 were independent actions for violations of the federal securities laws and 300 were either actions against issuers who were delinquent in making required filings with the SEC or administrative proceedings seeking bars against individuals based on criminal convictions, civil injunctions, or other orders. In fiscal year 2014, the SEC filed 755 enforcement actions and obtained orders totaling $4.16 billion in disgorgement and penalties.

ENTERPRISE FINANCIAL GROUP HIRES LOCAL BANKING EXECUTIVE: Arkansas banking veteran Aubrey Nixon has joined Little Rock-based Enterprise Financial Group (CFG), a local equipment leasing and management firm that went through an organizational realignment earlier this year to expand its core operations. Nixon will be servicing the company’s Central Arkansas operations. She joins EFG with more than 20 years of banking experience, including key positions with Bank of the Ozarks, Onebanc, and First Commercial Bank (now Regions Bank).