“Securities and Exchange Commission” on The Daily Caller

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are reportedly near a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over their failure to disclose to shareholders how heavily the firms had invested in subprime mortgages. (more)

(NYT) — Federal regulators, badly behind schedule for enforcing the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul, are now gradually stepping up their rule-writing efforts. (more)

The Securities and Exchange Commission gave up its leasing authority yesterday and could face a Justice Department probe in light of a $550 million leasing scandal. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Republicans are greeting the one-year anniversary of President Barack Obama’s financial overhaul law by trying to weaken it, nibble by nibble. (more)

U.S. securities regulators are investigating whether Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and other financial firms violated foreign bribery laws when dealing with the Libyan sovereign-wealth fund, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources. (more)

Facebook Inc. said it intends to breach a critical 500-shareholder limit this year, meaning it will be forced to begin disclosing financial information or stage an initial public offering by April 2012, according to a new 100-page private-placement memo being distributed to potential investors in the company. (more)

Federal regulators investigating the causes of the May 6 “flash crash” concluded a large trader’s use of a computer trading system to sell futures contracts led to a rapid and sudden selling that triggered additional selloffs in an already unstable market. (more)

The most politically successful Democrat since JFK, Bill Clinton, could hope for many things but not the deep affection and loyalty of the nation’s liberal establishment. He may have achieved a lot but not what they were really after: a validation of their faith in the power of government to manage as much as possible all aspects of daily life. (more)

U.S. regulators will vote next week on rules that may make it harder for companies to mask debt after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was accused of misleading investors by temporarily moving assets off its books. (more)

WASHINGTON—Shareholders won greater clout to place directors on corporate boards Wednesday, marking the latest victory for the “shareholder rights” movement that has gradually chipped away power from top executives running U.S. corporations. (more)

(Reuters) – Shareholders may soon get more power to shake up corporate boardrooms in the U.S. after the financial crisis exposed glaring weaknesses in how companies were managed. (more)

The federal government has taken great pains to tout the benefits of its $50 billion bailout of General Motors, but some officials may need to keep quiet about the company’s future success if they want the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve a sale to new investors any time soon. (more)

The Securities and Exchange Commission, in its first securities-fraud case against a state, accused New Jersey of misleading investors about the health of its two largest state pensions while selling billions of dollars in bonds. (more)

The sweeping financial reform bill that President Obama signed into law last month included one key provision that has gone largely under the radar. According to Section 748 of the bill –entitled “COMMODITY WHISTLEBLOWER INCENTIVES AND PROTECTION” — employees at financial institutions and businesses on Wall Street can now be awarded large sums of money by the federal government in return for informing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of internal fraud and abuse. (more)

AT&T Inc. said Friday it doesn’t expect to suffer a “material negative impact” from the end of its exclusive arrangements to carry handsets, including its lucrative deal for Apple Inc.’s iPhone. (more)

Samuel Wyly and Charles Wyly — billionaire brothers in Texas who have spent millions funding political campaigns — committed violations of federal securities laws and fraud by using offshore accounts to secretly trade the shares of public companies whose boards they sat on, reaping more than $550 million in profit, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint filed Thursday. (more)

So much for transparency. (more)

The new financial reform law has what some lawyers call a secret weapon against fraud on Wall Street and in corporate America: the promise of a million-dollar jackpot to insiders who reveal an illegal scheme to the government. (more)

Earthquake strikes epicenter of government-sponsored vice–a sign from God? — Prosecution rests in case of Blago v. The World — Google is laying the groundwork for a royal screw-job — Cat lovers attack Pres. Obama’s fiscal commission — Democrats continue to deny benefits to poors — Goldman Sachs up  (more)

More than 400 pages of legislation detail the duties and powers of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that Congress is set to create. But the first director of the powerful new agency will play a critical role in determining how it works. (more)