Big banks, quiet for so long, are querying the fundamentals of the US approach to implementing Basel II. Significant changes wanted - By David Keefe

An FSA proposal for best execution under the new EU financial markets law is stirring up a hornets’ nest. Critics blast IBM paper - By Melvyn Westlake

Top Bundesbank supervisor proposes market driven solution to hedge fund risk. Credit ratings are the answer, Edgar Meister tells GRR. Institutional investors will find funds more attractive - By Melvyn Westlake

Industry report calls for light regulation and access to mass investors. EU White Paper to weigh investor protection.

US Securities and Exchange staff scramble to repair damage from court ruling. Plans to raise hedge fund investment floor.

There is no evidence of substantial market failures related to transparency in Britain’s wholesale bond markets, according to the country’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA). This is the key conclusion of an analysis of secondary bond market transparency that the FSA has been undertaking ahead of a European Commission review of whether the transparency requirements in the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) should be extended to asset classes such as bonds and derivatives.

WASHINGTON – In a further attempt to lessen the burden of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), and fend off some of the considerable criticism directed at it, the Securities and Exchange Commission has published a “Concept Release” as a prelude to developing guidance on how corporate management should implement the controversial law.

LONDON – For the second consecutive year, excessive regulation is identified as the greatest risk facing the financial sector, according to a widely-followed annual survey carried out by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI), a London-based think tank.

LONDON – Credit Rating Agency Fitch Ratings reports a strong and favourable response from the investment banking community for its proposed new methodology for assigning equity credit to hybrid securities. These instruments, which combine both equity and debt characteristics, are booming, and have been particular popular with banks.

LONDON – The administrative costs to financial firms and individuals of reporting to the Financial Services Authority (FSA), Britain’s regulator, are around £600 million ($1,140 million) a year. This represents about 0.5% of the industry’s total costs of some £120 billion, according to a recently published study commissioned by the FSA.