In This Issue:

Leading the Past Week; Legislative Branch; Executive Branch; Miscellaneous; and International.

Excerpt from Leading the Past Week -

As was widely anticipated, President Obama announced that he was nominating Jack Lew to succeed Treasury Secretary Geithner. With Lew having already gone through the confirmation process twice before, it is expected that he will sail through. However, it does seem that he has some detractors, and that there could be opposition based more on policy than personality. And of course, there is “serious” concern about how his unique signature would appear on the nation’s currency. The Congressional recess last week didn’t prevent the CFPB from rolling out its much anticipated qualified mortgage, or “QM” standard, which was included as part of a larger “ability to repay rule”. This new rule, along with the continued announcements of additional settlements between lenders and their regulators, the latest one dealing with questionable foreclosure practices, is seen by some as necessary to turn the page on the core causes of the financial crisis. Similarly, in international news, the Basel Committee finalized recommendations for liquidity standards and risk reporting, with the former offering concessions to the industry.

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