Financial Services News 2001
 

October 1, 2001

  • The House Financial Services Committee recently held hearings on "America's Insurance Industry: Keeping the Promise." To read the transcripts for this hearing, along with Chairman Michael Oxley's opening statement, visit: http://www.house.gov/financialservices/092601tc.htm.

September 25, 2001

  • Pursuant to rule 3(d) of the Rules of the Committee on Financial Services, the Committee on Financial Services has scheduled a hearing on Wednesday, September 26, 2001, at 9:30 a.m., in 2128 Rayburn House Office Building, entitled "America's Insurance Industry: Keeping the Promise". Witnesses will be by invitation only.

    At the beginning of the hearing, the Committee will receive a brief update on the status of the Nation's securities markets from the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Honorable Harvey Pitt. Following Chairman Pitt's brief testimony, the Committee will hear testimony from a panel of witnesses on the status of the insurance industry. In order to permit Members, staff, and the witnesses to observe the Yom Kippur holy day, it is the Chair's intention to conclude the hearing not later than 1 p.m. The cooperation of all Members in this regard will be appreciated.

    A staff briefing for this hearing will be held on Monday, September 24, 2001, at 5 p.m. in room 2220 Rayburn House Office Building.

    If you have any questions concerning this hearing, please contact Robert Gordon or Charles Symington at extension 202-225-7502


September 18, 2001

  • REAL ESTATE SERVICES UNDER GRAMM-LEACH-BLILEY

    September 20, 2001
    12:00 noon -- 1:30 p.m.
    National Press Club

    The Federalist Society's Financial Services Practice Group will host a briefing on the Federal Reserve Board's and the Treasury Department's proposal to permit financial holding companies and financial subsidiaries of national banks to offer real estate brokerage and real estate management services, as authorized by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.

    Speakers:
    Rich Whiting, Financial Services Roundtable
    Andrew Cochran, Commitee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives

    RSVP to info@fed-soc.org or by calling (202) 822-8138.

August 31, 2001

  • Todd Zywicki has written an article in the Spring 2001 issue of Texas Review of Law & Politics concerning "Bankruptcy Law as Social Legislation." The article examines the idea of bankruptcy law as social legislation, investigating the implicity moral and social judgments embedded in bankruptcy law and in the recent arguments over the propriety of bankruptcy reform legislation.

July 23, 2001

July 18, 2001

July 11, 2001

July 3, 2001

  • July 1 marks the deadline for U.S. banks, brokers, insurers, and a host of other companies providing financial services to be in compliance with new privacy protections included in a landmark 1999 banking law. The law for the first time requires financial firms to tell customers how their personal information is collected and used, and to allow them to block some of it -- like account balances, account numbers or spending records -- from being sold to outside companies, such as telemarketers.

May 16, 2001

April 11, 2001

  • Internet Privacy laws expanded beyond court room -- Is the Constitutional right to freedom of Speech at risk? http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,42894,00.html
  • HEARING OF THE COMMERCE, TRADE AND CONSUMER PROTECTION SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE ENERGY AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE

SUBJECT: AN EXAMINATION OF EXISTING FEDERAL STATUES ADDRESSING INFORMATION PRIVACY

CHAIRED BY: REP. CLIFF STEARNS (R-FL)

WITNESSES: PANEL I MICHAEL LAMB, CHIEF PRIVACY OFFICER, AT&T

CORPORATION; RICHARD VARN, CIO, STATE OF IOWA; ANNE FORTNEY,

MANAGING PARTNER, LOVELLS; RICK FISCHER, PARTNER, MORRISON AND FOERSTER; RICHARD SMITH, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, THE PRIVACY FOUNDATION

PANEL II RONALD PLESSER, PARTNER, MARBURY, RUDNICK

AND WOLFE; RICHARD VARN, CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, THE STATE OF IOWA; FRANK TORRES, LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL, THE CONSUMER UNION; JONATHAN ZUCK, PRESIDENT OF ASSOCIATION FOR COMPETITIVE TECHNOLOGY; ED MIERZWINSKI, CONSUMER PROGRAM DIRECTOR, U.S. PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP

2123 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.

2:00 P.M. TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2001

  • Protecting Online Privacy: Government Regulation or Free Market Initiatives?

by Douglas J. Wood

Working Paper, Washington Legal Foundation

The rapid expansion of the Internet as a means of commerce has given rise to concerns over how advertisers and businesses collect and use information on customers who visit their web sites. The high-profile efforts of privacy activists and a steady stream of anecdotes and foreboding articles in the mass media have created the impression that violations of consumers’ rights are rampant, and that only government action can stop them. But as this publication argues, if policy makers embrace this view without considering the benefits of information collection and the merits of self-regulation, their actions could seriously threaten the viability of the Internet as a New Economy engine of economic growth. In making out this case, the author examines the ongoing drive towards and benefits of online self-regulation, as well as how government agencies are enforcing the existing laws effectively against egregious privacy violators. 42pp. CONTACT: http://www.wlf.org.

  • A Policy for E-Commerce: Stifle Regulation, Not Innovation

by Richard J. Mahoney

CEO Series No. 44, Weidenbaum Center

This essay deals exclusively with the regulatory aspect of e-commerce. It outlines ten E-Commerce Regulatory Guidelines – broad principles for legislators and regulators to consider in developing rules for e-commerce oversight. All are based on the overriding principle of "act only if the market fails or is highly likely to fail in protecting citizens and consumers."

 

March 7, 2001

February 20, 2001

   
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