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Daily Archives: July 12, 2014

Key Questions Raised by the CFTC’s Plans for Non-US CCPs

DavisPolk – A version of this article was first published in Risk Magazine on June 24, 2014. [snipped]
“As swaps clearing rules take effect around the world, recognition of foreign clearinghouses by domestic  regulators is becoming increasingly important—and so are the international standards for clearinghouses, the Principles for financial market infrastructures (the “PFMIs”) developed by CPSS-IOSCO. The PFMIs are set to play a significant role in a forthcoming CFTC proposal that would allow foreign clearinghouses to clear swaps for U.S. market participants without having to register as a derivatives clearing organization (“DCO”) with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”). But while the PFMIs are fairly well-understood by the market, their potential application in the context of the proposed exempt DCO regime raises some important questions—about how prescriptive the CFTC’s approach will be, and how much flexibility the agency will give to clearinghouses established in jurisdictions that are not fully compliant with the principles. While some insight can be found in the role played by the PFMIs in current CFTC regulation, there are still several unknowns associated with the planned exempt DCO rule. Foreign regulators already appear to have expressed concern about a separate condition that would prevent an exempt clearinghouse from offerings its swaps clearing services to U.S. customers. In addition, with the CFTC’s new Chairman and two new Commissioners recently sworn in, the agency’s approach and priorities could change. As a result, significant uncertainty surrounds a rulemaking that has significant global implications…”

New NASA Images Highlight U.S. Air Quality Improvement

News release includes charts/graphics: “Anyone living in a major U.S. city for the past decade may have noticed a change in the air. The change is apparent in new NASA satellite images unveiled this week that demonstrate the reduction of air pollution across the country. After ten years in orbit, the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA’s Aura satellite has… Continue Reading

Childcare Subsidies and Household Labor Supply

Guner, Nezih and Kaygusuz, Remzi and Ventura, Gustavo, Childcare Subsidies and Household Labor Supply. IZA Discussion Paper No. 8303. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2465338 “What would be the aggregate effects of adopting a more generous and universal childcare subsidy program in the U.S.? We answer this question in a life-cycle equilibrium model with joint labor-supply… Continue Reading

Informed Consent and the Differential Diagnosis

Ginsberg, Marc, Informed Consent and the Differential Diagnosis: How the Law Overestimates Patient Autonomy and Compromises Health Care (July 10, 2014). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2464735 “The purpose of this paper is not simply to re-examine the doctrine of informed consent. The purpose, however, is to identify how the doctrine has evolved, its scope expanded,… Continue Reading

Clear differences between organic and non-organic food, study finds

Damian Carrington and George Arnett – UK Guardian “Organic food has more of the antioxidant compounds linked to better health than regular food, and lower levels of toxic metals and pesticides, according to the most comprehensive scientific analysis to date. The international team behind the work suggests that switching to organic fruit and vegetables could give the same benefits… Continue Reading

67 Percent of Critical Infrastructure Providers Were Breached Last Year

Jeff Goldman – eSecurity PlanetJeff Goldman – “A recent survey of 599 security executives at utility, oil and gas, energy and manufacturing companies in 13 countries has found that 67 percent have experienced at least one security breach in the past 12 months that led to the loss of confidential information or the disruption of operations. The survey, conducted… Continue Reading

Report on the Potential Exposure to Anthrax – CDC

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report today that reviews the early June incident that involved the unintentional exposure of personnel to potentially viable anthrax at the CDC’s Roybal Campus. The report identifies factors found to have contributed to the incident; and highlights actions taken by the agency to address these factors and… Continue Reading

Can Twitter survive in a Facebook world? The key is being different

“News organizations have been reporting in recent weeks that Twitter’s growth rate has been slowing, which has spurred speculation about its future. The Pew Research Center has watched social networking in the U.S. grow faster and change more than most other internet activities, and that landscape continues to evolve quickly. Our studies have shown that Twitter occupies an important segment of… Continue Reading