Cabinet News & Views

It's never too hard to tell when a big holiday is upon us.

The traffic heading into Washington, DC today was moving at a steady pace − a stark difference from the normal rush-hour gridlock of cars heading to the capital from Maryland and Northern Virginia.

But while thoughts of barbecues, beaches and fireworks may be on a lot of minds, there is no holiday at the U.S. regulatory agencies, where some serious work is being done. With so much in the news in Washington over the past couple of weeks, the OCC's Semiannual Risk Perspective may have flown under the radar a bit. But there was some important news in that area, as well as some announcements this week following the Fed's stress test, and we take a closer look.

Over in the UK, no one is taking a holiday from ESG, and we examine important news from the European Union's European Securities and Market Authority and the UK's Financial Conduct Authority. We also explain a just-announced FCA consultation on the winding down of synthetic sterling LIBOR and the future of US Dollar LIBOR.

For our readers in the U.S., we wish you an enjoyable and meaningful Fourth of July weekend.

Daniel Meade and Michael Sholem
Co-Editors, Cabinet News and Views

Federal Reserve Releases Results of Stress Tests and Large Bank Holding Companies Follow Up with Their Stress Capital Buffer Requirements

By Daniel Meade

Partner | Financial Regulation

On June 23, the Federal Reserve Board issued the aggregate and individual results of the supervisory stress test (also known as the Dodd-Frank Act Stress Test or DFAST, as these tests are required by Section 165 of the Dodd-Frank Act), which assesses whether banks are sufficiently capitalized to absorb losses during a severe recession.

By Daniel Meade

Partner | Financial Regulation

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued its Semiannual Risk Perspective for Spring 2022 on June 23. This was the same day the Federal Reserve released the results of its stress test for large bank holding companies, so the OCC’s Risk Perspective may have flown beneath the radar.

By Michael Sholem

Partner | Financial Services

Here is a summary of ESG announcements from the European Union’s European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) and the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”).

By Michael Sholem

Partner | Financial Services

Earlier today the Financial Conduct Authority announced a consultation seeking comments on the winding down of one-, three- and six-month synthetic sterling LIBOR settings and on the future of the remaining US dollar LIBOR settings.

Inadvertent FCM Sanctioned by CFTC

By Peter Y. Malyshev

Partner | Financial Regulation

On June 24, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission sanctioned Starberry Limited, a Cyprus entity, for operating in the U.S. as an unregistered futures commission merchant and ordered it to pay $1.3 million in penalties. Starberry opened a proprietary account in the U.S. with a registered U.S. FCM and conducted 12,500 NYMEX WTI futures trades, generating $86 million in profits for its foreign customer while collecting $1.3 million in commissions and fees.

Cadwalader’s financial services team will host the third part of its four-part series focused on capital relief trades on July 13. Part 3, titled “U.S. Legal and Regulatory Considerations” and led by partners Jed Miller, Daniel Meade and Ivan Loncar, will look at: Securities Law (Disclosure); Risk Retention; Tax; Swap Regulation; Commodity Pool; Insurance Regulation; Volcker Rule; Regulation W; and the Banking Holding Company Act.