Day archives: March 25th, 2014

EPA and Army Corps of Engineers Clarify Protection for Nation’s Streams and Wetlands

News release: “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) today jointly released a proposed rule to clarify protection under the Clean Water Act for streams and wetlands that form the foundation of the nation’s water resources. The proposed rule will benefit businesses by increasing efficiency in determining coverage of …

Subjects: Environmental Law, Government Documents, Legal Research

Economic Policy Review – Federal Reserve Bank of New York

A Special Issue on Large and Complex Banks Volume 20, Number 2, March 2014 Do Big Banks Have Lower Operating Costs? Anna Kovner, James Vickery, and Lily Zhou Evidence from the Bond Market on Banks’ “Too-Big-to-Fail” Subsidy – João Santos Do “Too-Big-to-Fail” Banks Take on More Risk? – Gara Afonso, João Santos, and James Traina Components of U.S. Financial Sector …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents

FHFA Oversight of Enterprise Controls Over Pre-Foreclosure Property Inspections

Audit Report, AUD-2014-012, March 25, 2014: “The pre-foreclosure property inspection process needs improvement to ensure that  pre-foreclosure inspection objectives are achieved in the most effective manner. There is limited assurance that the Enterprises have effective controls in place to ensure the quality of inspections conducted and that inspectors issue reports consistent with contractual requirements. Overall, several servicers reviewed …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Housing

Federal Reserve survey provides information on mobile financial services

News release: “The use of mobile phones to access a bank account, credit card, or other financial account continued to increase in prevalence among adults in the United States last year, according to the Federal Reserve Board’s latest report on the use of mobile financial services. As of December 2013, 33 percent of all mobile …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Internet

New GAO Reports – Architect of the Capitol, VA Information Security

ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL: Incorporating All Leading Practices Could Improve Accuracy and Credibility of Projects’ Cost Estimates, GAO-14-333: Published: Mar 25, 2014. Publicly Released: Mar 25, 2014: “GAO’s Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide (Cost Guide) defines 12 leading practices that are associated with four characteristics—comprehensive, well documented, accurate , and credible —that are important to developing high-quality, reliable project-cost estimates.” INFORMATION SECURITY: VA Needs …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Government Documents, Internet

2014 Global Retirement Index

“The Natixis CoreData Global Retirement Index is an international comparison tool with an objective of providing a global benchmark for retirees and future retirees to evaluate and compare the suitability of nations globally in meeting retirement expectations, needs and ambitions. Welfare in retirement is an increasingly relevant issue in modern societies as demographic compositions continue …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System