Government Report: Flood Insurance: Public Policy Goals Provide a Framework for Reform: Congressional Testimony

Flood Insurance: Public Policy Goals Provide a Framework for Reform: Congressional Testimony

by Orice Williams Brown
Paperback, 21 pages, 2011, $20.00
ISBN: 1437988024

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has been on the high-risk list since 2006, when the program had to borrow form the U.S. Treasury to cover losses from the 2005 hurricanes.

The outstanding debt is $17.8 billion as of June 2011. This sizeable debt, plus operational and mgmt. challenges at FEMA, which administers NFIP, have combined to keep the program on the high-risk list. NFIP’s need to borrow to cover claims in years of catastrophic flooding has raised concerns about the program’s long-term financial solvency.

This testimony: (1) discusses ways to place NFIP on a sounder financial footing; and (2) highlights operational and mgmt. challenges at FEMA that affect the program. This is a print on demand report.

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New Government Report: Tax Havens

Tax Havens: International Tax Avoidance and Evasion
by Jane G. Gravelle
Paperback, 47 pages, 2010, $20.00
ISBN: 9781437941111

“The federal government loses around $100 billion per year, both in individual and corporate income tax revenue, from the shifting of profits and income into low-tax countries, or tax havens. International tax avoidance can arise from multi-national corporations who shift profits into low-tax foreign subsidiaries or wealthy individuals who set up secret bank accounts in tax haven countries.

Contents of this report: Introduction; Where are the Tax Havens?; Methods of Corporate Tax Avoidance; The Magnitude of Corporate Profit Shifting; Methods of Avoidance and Evasion by Individuals; Estimates of the Revenue Cost of Individual Tax Evasion; Alternative Policy Options to Address Corporate Profit Shifting; Options to Address Individual Evasion; Other Measures That Might Improve Compliance; Legislation Enacted.”

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New Government Report: Preventing a Repeat of the Money Market Meltdown of the Early 1930s (ISBN: 9781437935592)

Preventing a Repeat of the Money Market Meltdown of the Early 1930s (ISBN: 9781437935592)
By John V. Duca
(Paperback, 49 pages, 2010, $20.00)

The current worldwide recession is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Analyzes the meltdown of the commercial paper market during the Great Depression, and relates those findings to the recent financial crisis. Theoretical models of financial frictions and information problems imply that lenders will make fewer non-collateralized loans or investments and relatively more extensions of collateralized finance in times of high risk premiums. This study investigates the relevance of such theories to the Great Depression by analyzing whether the increased use of a collateralized form of business lending relative to that of non-collateralized commercial paper can be econometrically attributable to measures of corporate credit/financial risk premiums. Charts and tables.

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New Government Report: Financial Regulatory Reform and the 111th Congress (ISBN: 9781437934007)

Financial Regulatory Reform and the 111th Congress (ISBN: 9781437934007)
By Baird Webel (Paperback, 18 pages, 2010, $15)

In the wake of the global financial crisis and recession since Fall 2008, now the United States Senate and the House are considering 3,000 pages of financial regulatory reform.

Contents: (1) Introduction: Comprehensive Financial Reform Proposals; The Panic of Sept. 2008; (2) Issues for Regulatory Reform: Systemic Risk: Policy Issues (PI); Legislation; Federal Reserve Emergency Authority and Congressional Oversight: Policy Issues; Legislation; Resolution Regime for Failing Firms: Policy Issues; Legislation; Securitization and Shadow Banking: Policy Issues; Legislation; Consolidation of Bank Supervision: Policy Issues; Legislation; Financial Consumer Protection: Policy Issues; Legislation; Derivatives: Policy Issues; Legislation; Credit Rating Agencies: Policy Issues; Legislation; Investor Protection: Policy Issues; Legislation; Hedge Funds: Policy Issues; Legislation; Executive Compensation: Policy Issues; Legislation; Insurance: Policy Issues; Legislation.

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New Government Report: Severe Market Disruption on May 6, 2010: Congressional Testimony (ISBN: 9781437933369)

New Government Report: Severe Market Disruption on May 6, 2010: Congressional Testimony (ISBN: 9781437933369)
By Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Secretary Mary L. Schapiro (Paperback, 20 pages, 2010, $15)

On May 6th, 2010, there was a massive financial sell-off that sent the Dow Jones industrial average down nearly 1,000 points in less than half an hour, stunning Wall Street and Washington, according to the Associated Press via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

According to this report, the sudden evaporation of meaningful prices for many major exchange-listed stocks in the middle of a trading day is unacceptable.

This testimony summarizes the events on May 6th using the best information that is available. Provides an overview of the current market structure for the U.S.-listed securities, including the national market system and Reg. NMS (National Market System), the highly automated nature of trading in today’s markets, and the market-wide circuit breakers and other individual market “time out” mechanisms designed to address difficult trading conditions.

Finally, Schapiro discusses various regulatory tools that need to be considered in determining how best to maintain fair and orderly financial markets and to prevent severe market disruptions in the future.

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New Government Report: Consumer Action Handbook, 2010 Edition

Consumer Action Handbook: 2010 Edition
Edited by Stephen R. Leeds (Paperback, 169 pages, 2010, $30)

Contents:
Part I — Be A Savvy Consumer: Buyer Beware; Banking; Cars; Credit; Financing Your Education; Employment; Food and Nutrition; Health Care; Housing; Insurance; Internet; Investing; Phones; Privacy Protection and Identity Theft; Smart Home Shopping; Telemarketing and Unwanted Mail; Travel; TV; Wills and Funerals.

Part II — Filing a Complaint: Contact the Seller; Contact Third Parties; Sample Complaint Letter: Dispute Resolution Programs; Small Claims Court; Legal Help and Information; Report Fraud and Safety Hazard.

Part III — Key Information Resources: For Teachers; For Persons with Disabilities; For Military Personnel.

Part IV — Consumer Assistance Directory. Illustrations.

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New Government Report: Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s Office of Collections and Distribution and Fair Funds

Securities and Exchange Commission: Information on Fair Fund Collections and Distributions
by A. Nicole Clowers (Paperback, 34 pages, 2010, $20)

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) primary mission is to protect investors and maintain the integrity of securities markets.

As a part of its responsibility to protect investors, SEC seeks to ensure that individuals who violate federal securities laws and regulations take responsibility for their misdeeds. Specifically, when individuals or firms are found to have violated securities laws, SEC may order civil monetary penalties and seek ill-gotten financial gains, or disgorgement, from the violators.

For its enforcement actions to be successful, SEC must have a collection and distribution program for both civil monetary penalties and disgorgement that functions effectively. In 2002, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which established numerous reforms to increase investor protection, including Section 308(a), the Federal Account for Investor Restitution provision, commonly known as the Fair Fund provision.

This provision allows SEC to combine civil monetary penalties and other donations to disgorgement funds for the benefit of investors who suffer losses resulting from fraud or other securities violations.

In 2007, SEC created the Office of Collections and Distribution (OCD) to manage the collection of penalties and disgorgement, including Fair Funds, and speed the process of returning funds back to harmed investors.

This report examines (1) the status of Fair Fund collections and distributions and (2) the actions that SEC has taken to address GAO’s previous recommendations regarding SEC’s OCD. Figures.

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