Top Interest Rate Headlines 05-11-11: ISDA Announces Interest Rate Derivatives Trade Repository Selection

ISDA Announces Interest Rate Derivatives Trade Repository Selection
NEW YORK, Wednesday, May 11, 2011 – The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) announced today that the ISDA Rates Steering Committee (RSC) has chosen Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) to partner with the RSC on the next stage of development of the Interest Rate Trade Repository. This selection is the result of a public Request for Proposals (RFP), which was issued March 14, 2011. The ISDA RSC, which consists of senior business representatives in the interest rate market from both buy- and sell-side firms, issued the RFP and selected the provider.


Testimony-Bernanke, Dodd-Frank Implementation: Monitoring Systemic Risk and Promoting Financial Stability
Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member Shelby, and other members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify on the Federal Reserve Board's role in monitoring systemic risk and promoting financial stability, both as a member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and under our own authority.
http://jlne.ws/lJOSEs


Fed officials divided on policy outlook
Ann Saphir, Reuters
Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Narayana Kocherlakota on Wednesday repeated his call for an interest-rate hike by year's end, but comments from two other Fed policymakers suggested continued support for the Fed's easy money stance.
http://jlne.ws/k4hc8k


AIG shares strengthen on offering plan
By Telis Demos in New York and Tom Braithwaite in Washington, FT.com
Shares in AIG rallied after the insurance group and the US Treasury outlined plans for a scaled-back share offering in the company. AIG said on Wednesday that it would sell 100m shares and that the Treasury would sell 200m shares, raising some $9.2bn – an amount much lower than the $20bn originally targeted by the US government. AIG’s share price was up 3.4 per cent in midday US trading.
http://jlne.ws/jibJv2


U.S. Budget Deficit Narrowed to $40.5 Billion in April As Revenue Climbed
Bloomberg
The U.S. government’s monthly budget deficit narrowed to $40.5 billion in April from a year earlier as tax revenue climbed. Last month’s figure compares with a shortfall of $82.7 billion in April 2010, according to the Treasury Department’s monthly budget statement, released today in Washington.
http://jlne.ws/ijMfU4


Tentative Outright Treasury Operation Schedule - Federal Reserve Bank of New York
The Desk's tentative outright Treasury operation schedules for the purchases associated with the $600 billion purchase program announced by the FOMC on November 3, 2010 and for the purchases associated with the reinvestment of principal payments from agency debt and agency MBS announced by the FOMC on August 10, 2010.
http://jlne.ws/hp922J


Kocherlakota: Fed should ease up on gas pedal in 2011
Reuters
Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Narayana Kocherlakota on Wednesday repeated his call for a half-percentage-point interest-rate hike by year's end, lending his weight to what still appears to be a minority view at the U.S. central bank.
http://jlne.ws/midauF


U.S.-China Comprehensive Framework for Promoting Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth and Economic Cooperation
Following the consensus reached by President Hu Jintao and President Obama in Washington D.C. on January 20, 2011, the special representatives of President Barack H. Obama and President Hu Jintao, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan, have elaborated a framework of comprehensive economic cooperation (the Framework) in the third round of S&ED in May 2011.
http://jlne.ws/iSREmO

More Than 3 Million Job Openings in March
By Kathleen Madigan, WSJ.com
U.S. demand for labor increased in March, with 3.1 million job openings on the last business day of the month, up from 3 million in February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
http://jlne.ws/isvROK

Banks Offer $5 Billion for Mortgage Claims - Developments
WSJ.com
The nation's biggest banks are willing to pay as much as $5 billion to settle claims by federal and state officials of improper mortgage-servicing practices, according to people familiar with the situation.
http://jlne.ws/kmE67t


ECB Stark: Debt Restructuring Won't Solve Greece's Problems
WSJ.com
A debt rescheduling or restructuring won't solve the problems of the Greek economy, European Central Bank Executive Board Member Juergen Stark said Wednesday.
http://jlne.ws/jQ6FTB


ECB WATCH: Merkel's Backing Puts Draghi In Pole Position For Top Job
WSJ.com
Angela Merkel's declaration to a German newspaper that Germany "could support" Mario Draghi in the race for the European Central Bank's presidency puts the Italian central banker in the pole position.
http://jlne.ws/l4KHUB


Cautionary lessons on ethics from yet another bank fiasco
By John Kay, Financial Times
Payment protection insurance helps people who suffer accidents or illness or lose their jobs to repay debts. If you have a credit card, you will certainly have been invited to take out a PPI policy. Last week, the chief executive of Lloyds Bank announced that the bank would provide £3.2bn ($5.2bn) to cover claims for improper marketing of these products.
http://jlne.ws/mfSgWI


SEC Seeks Public Comment to Assist in Study on Assigned Credit Ratings
Press Release
Washington, D.C., May 10, 2011 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today published on its website a request for public comment on the feasibility of a system in which a public or private utility or a self-regulatory organization would assign a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) to determine credit ratings for structured finance products. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act mandated that the SEC study assigned ratings as part of a broader examination of credit ratings.
http://jlne.ws/mba86E