Contributor: Daniel Parker

A version of this blog post originally appeared in Securities Lending Times (p 16). The overarching mandate of financial reform is to mitigate the potential risks associated with systemically important financial activities and institutions. Statutory authority has purposely reserved an abundance of discretionary authority for the regulators to capture and reconfigure processes that have “an effect upon,” covered activities. As a means of exercising this reservation of authority, rule-makers as well regulatory-framework-setting bodies now seek to target shadow banking. For instance, the Financial Stability Board (FSB), which itself does not have rule-making authority yet is considered a persuasive advisory body concerning international standards within the financial system, seeks to “mitigate the spill-over effect between the regular banking system and the shadow banking system.” Additionally, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), which has rule-making authority under Section 120 of the Dodd-Frank Act, seeks to enhance and substantively modify the shadow banking space. The FSOC has concluded that the current state of shadow banking contributes to systemic risks. As a result, it now seeks to address the perceived bank-like activities that pose risks by subjecting shadow banking, and related activities such as money market mutual funds, (MMFs), and securitization activities to more onerous oversight. ... read more