Claire Williams

By Claire Williams Top Stories The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued the most monetary sanctions in more than three decades, with the SEC issuing $4.3 billion in fines in fiscal year 2019 ending Sept. 30. The agency’s crackdown on higher-fee mutual funds aided the record number. (The Wall Street Journal) Democratic lawmakers are sending […]

By Claire Williams Top Stories The Securities and Exchange Commission approved new proxy rules that will raise the threshold for shareholders to submit proposals and require shareholder advisory firms to submit advanced copies of advice to companies before it’s released to investors. The SEC’s two Democratic commissioners opposed the proposal, which will now go to […]

By Claire Williams Top Stories To help secure a partial trade deal with China, the Trump administration is considering removing a 15 percent tariff on $112 billion of Chinese goods that was imposed in September, according to five people briefed on the discussion. In return, Washington would expect a concession from the Chinese, such as […]

By Claire Williams Top Stories According to more than two dozen interviews with finance executives and analysts, the industry is most worried about Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts among the Democratic presidential candidates. The industry is donating money to Warren’s political rivals and raising concerns in open letters and conference calls, especially as Warren gains […]

By Claire Williams Week in Review Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve cut the target for the federal funds rate to a range between 1.5 and 1.75 percent and suggested a higher bar for future rate moves. The Fed will now “continue to monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook as it assesses […]

By Claire Williams Top Stories The Treasury Department is rolling back Obama-era regulations meant to curb tax-avoiding corporate inversion deals, saying that because “tax cuts made our business environment more competitive, we are now able to remove regulatory burdens that have been rendered obsolete,” according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The new rules removed a […]

By Claire Williams Top Stories Anne Pramaggiore, the chairwoman of the board of directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, has resigned, following her abrupt retirement from her job as the chief executive of the utilities unit of Exelon Corp. Pramaggiore left Exelon shortly after the nuclear plant operator said it received a second […]

By Claire Williams Top Stories Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia does not need to recuse himself in the Labor Department’s rewrite of the fiduciary rule, according to government ethics attorneys, despite previously handling a legal challenge to the Obama administration’s version. Consumer advocates had been concerned that Scalia would champion a rule that favors industry due […]