Going Private, Bitcoin ETF , Price Fixing Allegations

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo released a plan for housing-finance legislation that would end U.S. control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the latest sign that Congress will try again to complete the last outstanding business of the 2008 credit crisis.

Under the plan outlined in a statement Friday, Fannie and Freddie would survive as private mortgage guarantors, while facing new competitors and strict limits on capital and business lines. Crapo’s (R-Idaho) outline left blank many critical components that would be needed for actual legislation, including what level of capital the companies would be required to hold.

Still, it’s the an indication that lawmakers and other officials want to work on ending U.S. control of Fannie and Freddie, which are now in their 11th year of conservatorship under the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Read more from Joe Light

Finance Week Ahead
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump will deliver the State of the Union address from the House of Representatives. Among other topics, Trump is expected to touch on his trade war with China and his renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to a White House official.

On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee will meet to consider the nominations of Michael Faulkender to be assistant secretary of the Treasury, Michael Desmond to be chief counsel of the Internal Revenue Service, Jeffrey Kessler to be an assistant secretary of commerce, and Elizabeth Darling to be the Health and Human Services Department’s commissioner on children, youth and families.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Board’s Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal K. Quarles is scheduled to speak at the Federal Reserve Stress Testing Conference in New York.

Also on Wednesday, Fed Chairman Jerome H. Powell is scheduled to give opening remarks at the Conversation with the Chairman: A Teacher Town Hall Meeting event in Washington.

What Else To Know
Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled: Cboe Global Markets Inc. refiled its application to list the first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, resurrecting a document the exchange withdrew because of the U.S. government shutdown, Nick Baker reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission was mostly frozen until last week by the closure, creating a problem because the regulator’s deadline to decide on the application was approaching. With no guarantee the government would reopen anytime soon, Cboe decided to reset the 240-day clock by withdrawing and now refiling the application.

CFPB Bars Payday Lender: A Canadian online payday lender will no longer be able to issue new loans or collect on existing loans in the U.S. as part of a settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Evan Weinberger reports.

NDG Financial Corp., its affiliates and corporate officers do not face any civil penalties or consumer restitution under the proposed settlement filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The bureau sued Surrey, British Columbia-based NDG and its affiliates in July 2015. In a subsequent December 2015 amended complaint, the CFPB alleged that the lender illegally offered loans that violated state usury laws in the jurisdictions where they were offered and attempted to collect on invalid debts.

Suit Against Banks Proceeds: Eight banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. must face a lawsuit in Illinois seeking $1 billion in damages for allegedly fixing prices on variable-rate municipal bonds and charging states and local governments for services they didn’t receive.

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Diane M. Shelley refused Friday to dismiss the False Claims Act suit, brought by Edelweiss Fund LLC in 2014 and unsealed last year.

“The plaintiff has stated a cause of action sufficient to go forward,” Shelley said from the bench. Whether the plaintiff will prove the price-fixing scheme, Shelley said, “is another issue.” Read more from Joe Mysak and Janan Hanna

Willful False Statements: A futures trader violated commodity laws when he made false statements to a regulatory group, a federal appeals court said on Friday.

The court affirmed James Crombie’s liability in the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s civil enforcement action against him. Crombie, whose investment firm traded stock market index futures, didn’t challenge a $750,000 civil penalty, and the court affirmed an almost equal restitution order.

The commission pursued Crombie over alleged misstatements to the National Futures Association during a 2011 investigation, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Crombie overstated the value of the investment accounts he oversaw and misled the group about the nature of payments to two investors, the Ninth Circuit said. Read more from Martina Barash

BofA Settles Overdraft Suit: Bank of America will put up $22 million to resolve a class action by customers alleging it improperly charged overdraft fees on debit card transactions made with Uber Technologies Inc.

Nicoletta Pantelyat sued Bank of America for breaching its contractual obligations to consumers by charging overdraft fees on non-recurring debit card transactions made with Uber.

The settlement class includes customers holding 245,000 Bank of America accounts. Money will be automatically distributed to class members in proportion to the number of Uber overdraft fees they incurred. Read more from Perry Cooper

Brexit Breakthrough Reached: British and European Union regulators agreed Friday to cooperate on oversight of financial firms and share key market information in a move that will help avert problems arising from a no-deal Brexit scenario, especially for asset managers.

The European Securities and Markets Authority detailed two cooperation agreements, known as a memoranda of understanding, with the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, as politicians in both jurisdictions seek to cushion the effects of the U.K. leaving in March without a divorce deal.

The agreement smooths the way for regulators in the U.K. and remaining 27 EU member states to cooperate on oversight of investment funds as well as to share data, including for potential market abuse investigations. Read more from Silla Brush and Alexander Weber

National Credit Union Board Nomination: Trump on Friday nominated Todd M. Harper to be a Mmember of the National Credit Union Administration Board for the remainder of a six-year term expiring April 10, 2021. From 2011 to 2017, Harper led the Office of Public and Congressional Affairs and served as the chief policy advisor to the chairman of the National Credit Union Administration, the White House said in a statement.

Source: Bloomberg Business News