Investment Executive : Proposed SEC reforms intended to increase transparency of credit rating process Rating agencies would differentiate ratings they issue on structured products from those they issue on bonds

Some Buy a New Home to Bail on the Old - WSJ.com
Next month, Michelle Augustine plans to walk away from her four-bedroom house in a Sacramento, Calif., subdivision and let the property fall into foreclosure. But before doing so, she hopes to lock in the purchase of another home nearby.

Jim Hamilton’s World of Securities Regulation: Buys and Sells of Promissory Notes a Consequence of Downturned Real Estate Market
One consequence of the downturn in the residential real estate market that is taking place in Missouri among other states is the escalation of offers and sales of promissory notes by promoters to investors.

Securities Law Prof Blog: Campbell on Regulation D Pernicious Economic Rules: The SEC’s Inglorious Role in Limiting Small Business’s Access to Capital,

Securities Law Prof Blog: SEC Proposes Rule Requiring Interactive Data for Mutual Fund Risk/Return Summary The proposed rule would require mutual funds to provide risk/return summary information to the SEC and on their Web sites in interactive data format using the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (“XBRL”).

Jim Hamilton’s World of Securities Regulation Geithner Seeks Fed-Centric Unified Regulation of Global Commercial and Investment Banks

Canadian Privacy Law Blog: International standard for privacy impact assessments The International Standards Organization has earlier this year established ISO 22307:2008, which is a new international standard for privacy impact assessments.

Engine of wealth: BCE and shareholder rights, Part 2 - FP Comment The alternative to shareholder primacy is nothing less than economic stagnation By Jeffrey MacIntosh

NAIC Considers Proposal to Centralize Insurance Market Conduct Reporting | Blog Detail | InsureReinsure.Com | The Insurance & Reinsurance Blog A proposal to centralize the filing and storage of annual market conduct reports has been approved by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (the "NAIC") Market Regulation and Consumer Affairs (D) Committee, and is headed to the Executive Committee for consideration. Under the proposal, insurers would be required to submit only one market conduct report annually, as a supplement to the annual financial statements filed with the NAIC. Twenty-four states currently collect the annual market conduct statement data.

naked capitalism: Investors, Issuers Howl Over Plans to Change Asset Backed Securities Ratings (No Sympathy Here) Investors, Issuers Howl Over Plans to Change Asset Backed Securities Ratings (No Sympathy Here)