White House emails released on EPA soot standards, federal court upholds EPA air rule, CFPB probes Capital One’s marketing, and more.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced first enforcement action.
- Emails between the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicated White House influence over proposed fine-particle soot standards, drawing criticism from environmentalists.
- The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a new EPA rule to limit nitrogen dioxide emissions near major roadways.
- In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), a group of Democratic Senators called for an independent investigation into the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) manipulation scandal and for full prosecution of wrongdoings.
- Federal regulators tagged eight exchanges and clearinghouses that settle trades as potential threats to the stability of the financial system that need strict government oversight.
- The Office of the Chief Accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published its final staff report on a work plan for global accounting standards.
- Wireless carriers urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) not to impose perceived aggressive new regulations aimed at protecting the privacy of cellphone users.
- In a report sponsored by New York City, researchers found that the City’s restrictions on restaurants’ use of trans fat led to a lower average consumption of trans fat.
- On the two-year anniversary of the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing to examine the implementation of the act and the fallout from the bankruptcy of MF Global.
- The Obama administration announced plans to develop a national science, technology, engineering and math teaching corps – pending a $1 billion commitment from Congress.
- The European Commission proposed new measures to regulate fishing for deep-sea species in the Northeast Atlantic, ensuring that sustainable fishing is used for deep-sea species and unwanted by-catches are decreased.
- The SEC sought more feedback from JP Morgan’s divisive plan for an exchanged-traded fund physically backed by copper.
- The Food and Drug Administration announced that baby bottles and children’s drinking cups could no longer contain bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical used in some plastic bottles and food packaging.
- Senate Democrats planned to push a one-year tax cut proposal for individual Americans earning $200,000 or less annually, leading to a possible showdown in coming weeks with Republicans over extending the Bush tax cuts.
- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) initiated a rulemaking to reform its policies for assessing and collecting annual regulatory fees.
