New Rules on Derivative Trading?

From the New York Times:

The Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday approved legislation to tighten regulation of derivatives trading, with a single Republican, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, joining Democrats in supporting the measure. The vote was 13 to 8.

The bill to tighten regulation of derivatives is a crucial component of a larger effort to revamp regulation of the nation’s financial system. The Senate banking committee approved a broader bill last month on a party-line vote of 13 to 10, with Republicans unanimously opposed.

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Even the SEC Needs Legal Training

Bloomberg reports that the SEC is considering the prospect of establishing a "fraud college" to help staff detect "market abuses" like Bernard Madoff's $65 billion fraudulent ponzi scheme. Reasoning that such an educational program would be "particularly valuable," Commissioner Mary Schapiro noted that "[the] SEC is already training more than 300 examiners on ways to spot fraud after Madoff eluded the [agency] for more than 16 years."

Check it out.