The Committee on Capital Markets Regulation is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) research organization financed by contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations.
Contents
Background
Thirty-six leaders from the financial sector, including banks, broker-dealers, asset managers, private funds, insurance companies, and academia comprise the committee's membership. The committee co-chairs are Glenn Hubbard, dean of Columbia Business School, and John L. Thornton, chairman of the Brookings Institution. The committee's director is Professor Hal S. Scott, emeritus Nomura Professor and director of the Program on International Financial Systems at Harvard Law School. The committee's research regarding the regulation of U.S. capital markets provides policymakers with a nonpartisan, empirical foundation for public policy.
History
The committee was founded in 2006 by then-Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson.
Past recommendations
In 2009, the Committee determined four critical objectives based upon a year of observation and research into the 2008 financial crisis that are further broken down into 57 specific recommendations. These four objectives are:
Reduced systemic risk through more sensible and effective regulation.
Increased disclosure to protect investors and stabilize the market.
A unified regulatory system where lines of accountability are clear and transparency in improved.
International regulatory harmonization and cooperation.
In 2010, within a 37-page letter to Chairman Dodd, Ranking Member Shelby, Chairman Lincoln and Ranking Member Chambliss, the CCMR evaluated all major elements in the financial reform proposals that have emerged from Senate committees, but focused especially on four as areas for compromise:
Federal regulators must have the ability to use tax dollars (and recoup them later) to pay for the orderly resolution of failing institutions in cases where they judge the alternative would be national and/or international financial catastrophe.
No banks or non-banks should be labeled “systemically important.”
Clarity about jurisdiction over the clearing and settlement of derivatives is crucial to reducing systemic risk, as is increasing these activities.
The proposed independent and transparently funded Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) should be free of overriding authority except that of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (as provided in the Dodd Bill) and the Treasury Secretary (only when he or she is acting on matters of the “safety and soundness” of the financial system, as in matters of systemic risk).
Recent proposals
In May 2017, the committee's “Roadmap for Regulatory Reform” set forth priority regulatory actions for the Trump administration that would promote U.S. economic growth and enhance the stability of the U.S. financial system. The Roadmap consisted of eleven recommendation areas:
Conducting a cumulative assessment of regulatory impact
Enhancing the U.S. approach to international regulatory frameworks
Reexamining bank capital and liquidity requirements
Reducing undue regulatory burdens on community banks and regional banks
Simplifying and streamlining the Volcker Rule
Ensuring that rulemakings are adopted through a transparent and public process
Enhancing the process of identifying and addressing systemic risk
Establishing a rule of law framework for the Federal Reserve as a lender of last resort
Reinvigorating the stagnant U.S. IPO market
Reforming trading rules for the U.S. stock market
Reviewing the U.S. public enforcement regime
In June 2018, the staff of the Committee developed a comprehensive overview of the structure, operation, and transparency of the U.S. public enforcement system as it pertains to the financial system. The staff set forth recommendations in four major areas:
Improving coordination and cooperation between enforcement authorities
Committee members
Gregory Babyak, global head of regulatory and policy group, Bloomberg
Kenneth Bentsen Jr., president & CEO, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association
Andrew Berry, managing director, head of regulatory strategy and initiatives, Americas, UBS
Jeffrey Brown, senior vice president legislative and regulatory affairs, Charles Schwab
Roel C. Campos, partner, Hughes, Hubbard & Reed; former commissioner, Securities and Exchange Commission
Jason Carroll, managing director, Hudson River Trading
Douglas Cifu, CEO, Virtu Financial
Allen Ferrell, Harvey Greenfield Professor of Securities Law, Harvard Law School
John Finley, senior managing director and chief legal officer, The Blackstone Group
Benjamin M. Friedman, William Joseph Maier Professor of Political Economy, Harvard University
Kenneth A. Froot, André Jakurski Professor of Business Administration, emeritus, Harvard University Graduate School of Business
Adam Gilbert, PwC financial services advisory risk & regulatory co-leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Robert R. Glauber, adjunct lecturer, Harvard Kennedy School of Government; visiting professor, Harvard Law School; former chairman & CEO, NASD