Citizen Cartwright

Geithner warns Europe over regulations

The Treasury secretary says the European Union's plans to regulate hedge funds would disadvantage U.S. funds, private equity groups and banks.

'Volcker rule' gets some support

Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Carl Levin, D-Mich., have introduced a bill to enact and expand the so-called "Volcker rule."

The proposal by President Obama and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker would ban proprietary trading by banks, get them out of the hedge fund business and limit their growth.

Carveout for payday loans in financial regulations

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who stepped in to keep Senate financial regulation talks bipartisan after bipartisanship had fallen apart, has persuaded Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., to ease provisions on payday loans, The New York Times reports.

The industry is politically influential in Tennessee and contributes significantly to Corker's campaigns, the paper says.

When Corker was asked whether those contributions had influenced him, he said, “Categorically, absolutely not.”

Crackdown on deceptive food labels

The Food and Drug Administration has warned 17 food manufacturers to change their health and nutrition claims.

Among the targets are Gerber baby food, Juicy Juice, Dreyer’s ice cream, POM pomegranate juice, Diamond shelled walnuts and Gorton’s fish fillets.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest says the move is the biggest crackdown on food labeling in more than a decade, but that the FDA should turn its individual enforcement actions into binding regulations.

Study: Foodborne illness costs $152 billion a year

The study on the burden to the country of pathogens in food — by the Produce Safety Project, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts — comes as Congress is working on the first major overhaul of the food safety system in 50 years.

Momentum on financial regulations

Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., are close to a deal to create a consumer protection office within the Federal Reserve, media are reporting.

Toyota conspiracy theory

Many people in Japan believe that the congressional hearings on the Toyota recalls are part of a conspiracy to boost General Motors, the Los Angeles Times reports.

And some Americans also wonder if the congressional zeal is linked to self interest, now that the government is GM's majority shareholder.

It "can't be ignored," says Mark Zupan, dean of the University of Rochester's School of Business. If lawmakers applied the same standard to all the auto companies, the hearings never would end, he says. "This is not an unbiased jury.

Optimism about financial regulations

Sen. Richard Shelby, Ala., ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, says he and Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., “agree on probably 90 percent” of “just about everything” in overhaul legislation.

And banking industry representatives say they've agreed on the need to get a bill passed this year.

Financial regulations

While the Obama administration says it's still committed to the "Volcker rule" to prohibit risky trading by banks, Senators are considering a watered down version, media are reporting.

Toyota faces criminal investigation

The company said on Monday that it's gotten subpoenas from a federal grand jury and the Securities and Exchange Commission over the sudden acceleration in its cars.

Meanwhile, in Japan, government officials are reassuring a nervous public that U.S.-Japanese relations are sound in the runup to Toyota President Akio Toyoda's testimony Wednesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.