The FinReg Pod

Joe Davis is chief economist at Vanguard as well as the global head of Vanguard Investment Strategy Group. In this episode, Joe offers his thoughts on what's driving inflation, how the Federal Reserve is likely to respond at their upcoming policy meeting and beyond, and how investors can insulate their portfolio from inflations pernicious effects. Joe and Lee also reflect on key lessons learned from the last 15 years of economic policymaking.   Lee's Twitter: @leereiners GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC   Related Links   *Ukraine and the Changing Market Environment* Vanguard https://advisors.vanguard.com/insights/article/ukraineandthechangingmarketenvironment   *Why Do We Think That Inflation Expectations Matter for Inflation? (And Should We?)* Jeremy B. Rudd https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2021.062   *Will Inflation Stay High for Decades? One Influential Economist Says Yes* Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/inflation-high-forecast-economist-goodhart-cpi-11646837755

Ari Redbord is the head of legal and government affairs for the blockchain intelligence firm, TRM Labs. Prior to joining TRM Labs, Ari held public sector roles involving cryptocurrency and national security at the Department of Justice and U.S. Department of the Treasury. In this episode, Ari and Lee break down President Biden's executive order on cryptocurrency. Ari Redbord's Twitter: @ARedbord TRM Labs Twitter: @TRMLabs  Lee's Twitter: @leereiners GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC Related Links *Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets* https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/03/09/executive-order-on-ensuring-responsible-development-of-digital-assets/ *FACT SHEET: President Biden to Sign Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets* https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/03/09/fact-sheet-president-biden-to-sign-executive-order-on-ensuring-responsible-innovation-in-digital-assets/ *Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on the President's New Digital Assets Executive Order* https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/03/09/background-press-call-by-senior-administration-officials-on-the-presidents-new-digital-assets-executive-order/  

Barbara Haya directs the Berkeley Carbon Trading Project. Barbara joins Lee to explain what carbon offsets are and the considerations that must be addressed to ensure that offset credits entering into commerce reflect real, verifiable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, Barbara details why most offset programs issue more credits than they should, and recent policy efforts to bring greater integrity to the voluntary offset market.   Barbara's Twitter: @Barbara_Haya GFMC's Twitter: @DukeGFMC Lee's Twitter: @leereiners   Related Links:   *POLICY BRIEF: The California Air Resources Board's U.S. Forest offset protocol underestimates leakage* by Barbara Haya https://gspp.berkeley.edu/faculty-and-impact/working-papers/policy-brief-arbas-us-forest-projects-offset-protocol-underestimates-leaka   * Measuring Emissions Against an Alternative Future: Fundamental Flaws in the Structure of the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism* by Barbara Haya https://gspp.berkeley.edu/faculty-and-impact/working-papers/measuring-emissions-against-an-alternative-future-fundamental-flaws-in-the- Barbara Haya directs the Berkeley Carbon Trading Project. Barbara joins Lee to explain what carbon offsets are and the considerations that must be addressed to ensure that offset credits entering into commerce reflect real, verifiable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, Barbara details why most offset programs issue more credits than they should, and recent policy efforts to bring greater integrity to the voluntary offset market.   Barbara's Twitter: @Barbara_Haya GFMC's Twitter: @DukeGFMC Lee's Twitter: @leereiners   Related Links:   *POLICY BRIEF: The California Air Resources Board's U.S. Forest offset protocol underestimates leakage* by Barbara Haya https://gspp.berkeley.edu/faculty-and-impact/working-papers/policy-brief-arbas-us-forest-projects-offset-protocol-underestimates-leaka   * Measuring Emissions Against an Alternative Future: Fundamental Flaws in the Structure of the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism* by Barbara Haya https://gspp.berkeley.edu/faculty-and-impact/working-papers/measuring-emissions-against-an-alternative-future-fundamental-flaws-in-the-

Jeremy Kress is Assistant Professor of Business Law at Michigan Ross and Co-Faculty Director of the University of Michigan's Center on Finance, Law & Policy. Jeremy joins Lee to discuss how policymakers' long-standing approach to bank antitrust—premised on consumer welfare—has reduced the cost and availability of basic financial services and ignores numerous non-price harms stemming from bank consolidation. Jeremy details how the Chicago school of antitrust and its focus on consumer welfare came to dominate bank merger review, the impact of fintech on bank competition, and recent policy actions that foreshadow a more stringent review of bank mergers going forward. Jeremy's Twitter: @Jeremy_Kress GFMC's Twitter: @DukeGFMC Lee's Twitter: @leereiners   Related Links:   * Modernizing Bank Merger Review* by Jeremy Kress https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3440914     * Reviving Bank Antitrust * by Jeremy Kress https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4039197     * Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American* https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/07/09/executive-order-on-promoting-competition-in-the-american-economy/     * Antitrust Division Seeks Additional Public Comments on Bank Merger Competitive Analysis* U.S. Department of Justice https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/antitrust-division-seeks-additional-public-comments-bank-merger-competitive-analysis     * Request for Public Comment on the Bank Merger Act* Joint Statement of Martin J. Gruenberg and Rohit Chopra, Members, FDIC Board of Directors https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_bank-merger-act-rfi_joint-statement_2021-12.pdf

Mike Bloomberg is the Public Infrastructure Fellow at the NewCities Foundation and a Visiting Researcher with the Urban Tech Hub at Cornell Tech. In this episode, he examines the dark side of U.S. cities embracing cryptocurrency. Mike and Lee discuss how MiamiCoin and NYC Coin actually work, the nebulous legal relationship between these coins and the cities of Miami and New York, and why anyone would bother purchasing or mining these coins. They also discuss the legal and regulatory risks mayors are taking on by embracing crypto.     Mike's Twitter: @BloombergME GFMC's Twitter: @DukeGFMC Lee's Twitter: @leereiners   Related Links:   CityCoins Website: https://www.citycoins.co/ *Money for nothing: Cities' crypto push draws fans, critics* Associated Press: https://apnews.com/article/cryptocurrency-business-new-york-miami-coin-f076e0e8b80adf74fdeebaeae9188e70

Jay Brown and Kathleen Hamm are former board members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB. Jay and Kathleen join Lee to discuss the origins of the PCAOB and the ongoing challenges the agency faces. Specifically, they discuss the role of auditors in overseeing non-financial reporting such as ESG disclosure, the difficulty in getting US-listed Chinese companies to comply with American auditing standards, and whether PCAOB standards adequately reflect the risks of a cyber incident at issuers or at the auditors themselves.   Jay's Profile: https://www.law.du.edu/about/people/j-robert-brown-jr   Kathleen's Profile: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Hamm GFMC's Twitter: @DukeGFMC Lee's Twitter: @leereiners

On January 20th, the Federal Reserve released a discussion paper that examines the pros and cons of a potential U.S. central bank digital currency, or CBDC. In this episode, Marcelo Prates joins Lee to breakdown the paper's findings and the future of CBDCs in the U.S. and elsewhere. Marcelo is a lawyer at the Central Bank of Brazil and a columnist at cryptocurrency news site, Coindesk.   Marcelo's Twitter: @MarceloMPrates   Related Links: *Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation*, the Federal Reserve Board. https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/money-and-payments-discussion-paper.htm   *No Reason to Fear Central Bank Digital Currencies* by Marcelo Prates https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/05/17/no-reason-to-fear-central-bank-digital-currencies/ * Legal troubles may delay CBDCs*  by Marcelo Prates https://www.omfif.org/2021/02/legal-troubles-may-delay-cbdcs/   *CBDC: A Solution in Search of a Problem?* by Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/waller20210805a.htm

Art Wilmarth is Professor Emeritus at The George Washington University Law School. In this episode, Art discusses his new paper, “It's Time to Regulate Stablecoins as Deposits and Require Their Issuers to Be FDIC-Insured Banks.” Specifically, Art explains why he believes that stablecoin issuers and distributors should be required to become FDIC-insured banks and the other steps he would like to see financial regulators take in the interim, including having the SEC use its existing authority to regulate stablecoins as “securities” and having the Department of Justice designate stablecoins as “deposits” and bring enforcement actions to prevent issuers and distributors of stablecoins from unlawfully receiving “deposits” in violation of Section 21(a) of the Glass-Steagall Act.   Related Links:   Art's profile: Arthur E. Wilmarth, Jr. | GW Law | The George Washington University (gwu.edu)   It's Time to Regulate Stablecoins as Deposits and Require Their Issuers to Be FDIC-Insured Banks: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4000795   President's Working Group on Financial Markets Report on Stablecoins: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0454

Hilary Allen is a professor of law at the American University Washington College of Law and author of “Driverless Finance: Fintech's Impact on Financial Stability.” In this episode, Hilary discusses the financial stability risks associated with the rise of crypto-assets, fintech payments, and machine learning; and why she believes regulators should be guided by the precautionary principle in addressing these risks.   Hilary's Profile: https://www.wcl.american.edu/community/faculty/profile/hjallen/bio   Hilary's Twitter: @ProfHilaryAllen GFMC's Twitter: @DukeGFMC Lee's Twitter: @leereiners   Related Links:   Driverless Finance: Fintech's Impact on Financial Stability by Hilary Allen

Sara Greene is a sociologist and legal scholar whose research utilizes qualitative empirical methods to study the relationship between law, poverty, and inequality. In this episode, Sara discusses her recent paper “Stealing (Identity) From the Poor.” Sara discusses why low-income individuals are particularly vulnerable to identity theft, why the existing regulatory regime around data breaches ignores the unique needs and circumstances of the poor, and how she would transform this regulatory regime by creating a new federal agency with field offices in all fifty states.   Sara's Duke Law Profile: https://law.duke.edu/fac/ssgreene/   Sara's Twitter: @SaraJSGreene GFMC's Twitter: @DukeGFMC Lee's Twitter: @leereiners   Related Links:   Stealing (Identity) From the Poor by Sara Greene   Credit Scoring Duality by Sara Greene

In this special look-back episode, Tim Swanson breaks down major developments in the cryptocurrency market in 2021. Tim is head of market intelligence at London-based blockchain company Clearmatics and is the founder and director of research at tech advisory firm Post Oak Labs.   Tim's Twitter: @ofnumbers GFMC's Twitter: @DukeGFMC Lee's Twitter: @leereiners The FinReg Blog: https://sites.law.duke.edu/thefinregblog/

Costas Stephanou and Matteo Aquilina from the Financial Stability Board (FSB) discuss the fragilities in the non-bank financial intermediation sector that were revealed in March 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the work of the FSB to address these risks. Non-bank financial intermediaries include money market mutual funds, other open-ended funds, asset managers, non-bank corporate bond dealers, and derivatives central counterparties. The sector was on the bring of collapse in March 2020 before central banks took extraordinary and unprecedented action.   Related Links   Enhancing the Resilience of Non-Bank Financial Intermediation: Progress report(November 2021)   Policy proposals to enhance money market fund resilience: Final report (October 2021)   Global Monitoring Report on Non-Bank Financial Intermediation 2020 (December 2020)   Holistic Review of the March Market Turmoil (November 2020)

Chris Giancarlo served as the thirteenth Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. While leading the CFTC, Chris earned the nickname “CryptoDad” for his call on Congress to respect a new generation's interest in cryptocurrency, an experience he details in his excellent new book “CryptoDad: The Fight for the Future of Money.” Chris is also the co-founder of the digital dollar project, which promotes research into a US central bank digital currency.   Chris' Twitter: @giancarloMKTS   Related Links   * CryptoDad: The Fight for the Future of Money   CryptoDad: The Fight for the Future of Money: J. Christopher Giancarlo, Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss: 9781119855088: Amazon.com: Books   *The Digital Dollar Project   https://digitaldollarproject.org/

Laura Parisi is team lead at the European Central Bank Climate Change Center and Spyros Alogoskoufis is a financial stability and stress test expert at the European Central Bank. Together, they spearheaded the ECB's economy-wide climate stress test which was released in September. The exercise tested the impact of climate change on more than four million firms worldwide and 1,600 Euro-area banks under three different climate policy scenarios.   Related Links   * ECB economy-wide climate stress test https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2021/html/ecb.pr210922~59ade4710b.en.html *The ECB pledge on climate change action https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpops/ecb.op271~36775d43c8.en.pdf Lee's Twitter: @leereiners GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Ari Redbord is the head of legal and government affairs for the blockchain intelligence firm, TRM Labs. Prior to joining TRM Labs, Ari held public sector roles involving cryptocurrency and national security at the Department of Justice and U.S. Department of the Treasury. In this episode, Ari discusses the first time he encountered cryptocurrency as a federal prosecutor, how crypto is being used to evade and undermine US economic sanctions, and how firms like TRM Labs can leverage public blockchains to trace illicit activity.   Ari Redbord's Twitter: @ARedbord   TRM Labs Twitter: @TRMLabs   Related Links   *Ban Cryptocurrency to Fight Ransomware   https://www.wsj.com/articles/ban-cryptocurrency-to-fight-ransomware-11621962831   *Crypto Isn't the Cause of Ransomware. It Might Be the Cure   https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/09/14/crypto-isnt-the-cause-of-ransomware-it-might-be-the-cure/

Winston Ma is the author of “The Digital War: How China's Tech Power Shapes the Future of AI, Blockchain and Cyberspace.” The book details the profound global implications as China's digital economy moves from a consumer-focused phase to an enterprise-oriented one, with a focus on the Internet of Things, AI, blockchain, cloud computing, and data analytics. In this episode, Winston discusses the rise of mobile payments in China, China's crypto ban and digital yuan rollout, and the recent government crackdown on tech companies.   Winston's Twitter: @Winston_W_Ma   Related Links   The Digital War: How China's Tech Power Shapes the Future of AI, Blockchain and Cyberspace: https://www.amazon.com/Digital-War-Chinas-Blockchain-Cyberspace/dp/1119748917 Lee's Twitter: @leereiners GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Liam Vaughan is a senior reporter with Bloomberg and Businessweek magazine in London. His article, ‘Most Americans Today Believe the Stock Market Is Rigged, and They're Right,' appeared on the October 4th cover of Bloomberg Businessweek. Liam is a returning guest to the podcast and joins Lee to discuss his new article that examines the disturbing behavior of US corporate executives that trade their companies' stocks.   Liam's Twitter: @liamvaughanBBG   Related Links * Most Americans Today Believe the Stock Market Is Rigged, and They're Right': Is Stock Market Rigged? Insider Trading by Executives Is Pervasive, Critics Say - Bloomberg   Lee's Twitter: @leereiners GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Alicia Seiger is Managing Director of the Stanford University Sustainable Finance Initiative and Lynn Schenk is Director at the Business and Environment Initiative at Harvard Business School. They both served on the California Climate-Related Risk Disclosure Advisory Group. In this episode, Alicia and Lynn discuss the advisory group's recent report, “Developing Climate Risk Disclosure Practices for the State of California.” The report offers 45 recommendations from 20 global experts to help California – already a leader on climate action – make even better budget, procurement, and investment decisions across its 262 billion dollar general operating budget and the 1 trillion dollar combined assets under management of its 3 largest pensions in light of the risks and opportunities imposed by climate change.   Alicia Seiger's profile: https://law.stanford.edu/directory/alicia-seiger/   Alicia's Twitter: @aaseiger   Lynn Schenk's profile: https://www.hbs.edu/environment/about/Pages/profile-details.aspx?profile=lschenk   Related Links   * Developing Climate Risk Disclosure Practices for the State of California https://www-cdn.law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Developing-Climate-Risk-Disclosure-Practices-for-the-State-of-California.pdf *Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures Recommendations https://www.fsb-tcfd.org/recommendations/ Lee's Twitter: @leereiners GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Tariq Fancy is Founder and CEO of The Rumie Initiative and the former Chief Investment Officer for Sustainable Investing at BlackRock. His recent three-part series, “The Secret Diary of a Sustainable Investor”, argues that ESG/sustainable investing is intellectually bankrupt and is damaging to the most important causes it purports to support. Tariq joins The FinReg Pod to discuss how he went from an ESG evangelist to ESG critic and why the private sector is ill-equipped to address climate change on its own.   Tariq's Twitter: @sosfancy   Rumie's website: https://about.rumie.org/   Related Links: The Secret Diary of a ‘Sustainable Investor' — Part 1 https://medium.com/@sosofancy/the-secret-diary-of-a-sustainable-investor-part-1-70b6987fa139 The Secret Diary of a ‘Sustainable Investor' — Part 2 https://medium.com/@sosofancy/the-secret-diary-of-a-sustainable-investor-part-2-831a25cb642d The Secret Diary of a ‘Sustainable Investor' — Part 3 https://medium.com/@sosofancy/the-secret-diary-of-a-sustainable-investor-part-3-3c238cb0dcbf A Sense of Purpose, Larry Fink https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2018/01/17/a-sense-of-purpose/ Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation, Business Roundtable https://s3.amazonaws.com/brt.org/BRT-StatementonthePurposeofaCorporationJuly2021.pdf   Lee's Twitter: @leereiners GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Pat Parkinson is a senior fellow at the Bank Policy Institute and project director for the Group of Thirty's Working Group on Treasury Market Liquidity. In this episode, Pat discusses the Treasury market meltdown in March 2020 and the Group of Thirty's recommendations to address key Treasury market fragilities. Specifically, Pat explains why the Federal Reserve's standing repo facility, launched on July 28, 2021, is not sufficient to prevent future dysfunction in the Treasury market. Pat's BPI profile: https://bpi.com/people/pat-parkinson/   Related Links: *Enhancing Liquidity of the U.S. Treasury Market Under Stress* by Nellie Liang and Pat Parkinson https://www.brookings.edu/research/enhancing-liquidity-of-the-u-s-treasury-market-under-stress/  *U.S. Treasury Markets: Steps Toward Increased Resilience* by Group of Thirty https://group30.org/images/uploads/publications/G30_U.S_._Treasury_Markets-_Steps_Toward_Increased_Resilience__1.pdf *Clearing a Path to a More Resilient Treasury Market* by FIA Principal Traders Group https://www.fia.org/sites/default/files/2021-07/FIA-PTG_Paper_Resilient%20Treasury%20Market_FINAL.pdf *Statement Regarding Repurchase Agreement Arrangements* by Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20210728b.htm *US Treasuries: The Lessons from March's Market Meltdown* by Colby Smith and Robin Wigglesworth https://www.ft.com/content/ea6f3104-eeec-466a-a082-76ae78d430fd   Global Financial Markets Center's Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Mike Konczal is Director of Macroeconomic Analysis and Progressive Thought at the Roosevelt Institute. His recent article “Completing the Revolution in Macroeconomic Policy,” is part of a three-part series from Roosevelt Institute staff that lay out their agendas for the next Federal Reserve term across three different issues: corporate power, climate change, and macroeconomics. In this episode, Mike discusses the radical approach the Fed has taken to monetary policy under Chair Powell, the success of the Fed's various pandemic related interventions, and Powell's approach to inflation and monetary tightening. While Mike doesn't explicitly endorse Powell for reappointment, his article and this interview make a strong case for Powell based upon his track record on full employment and a strong recovery.   Related Links: Completing the Revolution in Macroeconomic Policy by Mike Konczal https://rooseveltinstitute.org/2021/08/16/priorities-for-the-next-federal-reserve-chair-completing-the-revolution-in-macroeconomic-policy/ The Roosevelt Institute's Priorities for the Next Federal Reserve Chair by Suzanne Kahn https://rooseveltinstitute.org/2021/08/16/roosevelt-institutes-priorities-for-the-next-federal-reserve-chair/ The Fed's Municipal Lending Failed Black Public-Sector Workers by Max Moran https://therevolvingdoorproject.org/the-feds-municipal-lending-failed-black-public-sector-workers/ Monetary Policy in the Time of COVI by Jerome Powell https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/powell20210827a.htm   Mike's Twitter: @rortybomb Mike's website: https://rooseveltinstitute.org/authors/mike-konczal/ Lee's Twitter: @leereiners GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC  

Art Wilmarth is Professor Emeritus at The George Washington University Law School. In this episode, Art discusses his new paper “The Pandemic Crisis Shows that the World Remains Trapped in a 'Global Doom Loop' of Financial Instability, Rising Debt Levels, and Escalating Bailouts.” Art explains the consequences of the Federal Reserve's backstop of the corporate bond market during the pandemic, what history tells us about the Fed's ability to taper their quantitative easing program, and how the Fed's support for shadow deposits like money market funds and commercial paper has fueled the rise of new shadow deposits like stablecoins. House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee: “Quantitative easing: a dangerous addiction?” Howell Jackson and Morgan Ricks: “Locating Stablecoins within the Regulatory Perimeter” Better Markets Releases Report: “Should Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell Be Reappointed?”

Congressman Mike Levin is one of the leading voices on climate policy in the U.S. Congress. He serves on the House Committee on Natural Resources as well as the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, and in this episode, he talks about the findings from the latest UN climate report, the climate provisions he would like to see in the proposed $3.5 trillion dollar budget reconciliation package, and what other government agencies can do to help address the climate crisis.   Congressman Levin references “Macroeconomic Consequences of the Infrastructure and Budget Reconciliation Plans” from Moody's Analytics. That analysis is available here: macroeconomic-consequences-infrastructure.pdf (moodysanalytics.com)

Zach Neumann is the co-founder and executive director of the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project in Denver, Colorado. Zach is also the co-author of a recent paper from the Aspen Institute titled “With Federal Moratorium Expiring, 15 million people at Risk of Eviction.” In this episode, Zach discusses the innovative model his organization developed to quickly disburse rental assistance funds, the challenges that states and local communities across the country have faced in distributing $46 billion in Congressionally appropriated rental assistance, and the steps state policymakers can take now to slow evictions and distribute rental assistance funds more quickly.   Check out Zach's co-authored paper: “With Federal Moratorium Expiring, 15 Million People at Risk of Eviction” at https://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/with-federal-moratorium-expiring-15-million-people-at-risk-of-eviction/   Also check out Zach's co-authored paper from December: “Emerging Best Practices for COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Programs” at https://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/emerging-best-practices-for-covid-19-emergency-rental-assistance-programs/

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a cooperative effort among 11 northeastern and mid-Atlantic states to cap and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector. In this episode, RGGI Vice Chair and Maryland Secretary of the Environment, Ben Grumbles, breaks down RGGI's origins and what it takes for states to join the initiative, the auction process to allocate emissions allowances, and the development of a robust secondary market where allowances are continuously traded   To learn more about RGGI and other carbon markets in the U.S. and Europe, check out a recording of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's June 3rd meeting of the Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee here.

LIBOR has been called the world's most important number, which is why getting the entire financial system to move away from LIBOR is such a herculean effort. In this episode, Manuel Frey and Jane O'Brien discuss the role of regulators in facilitating an orderly transition away from LIBOR, the strengths and weaknesses of regulators' preferred alternative to LIBOR, and the potential for rival benchmarks to gain traction. Manuel is a partner at the law firm of Paul Weiss, where he focuses on a broad-based cross-border OTC derivatives, structured products and hedge fund practice. Jane is partner and co-deputy chair of the Securities Litigation and Enforcement Group at Paul Weiss. She advises financial institutions and other market participants with respect to managing risks associated with the anticipated cessation of LIBOR.

Thomas Vartanian is the author of the recently released book: 200 Years of American Financial Panics: Crashes, Recessions, Depressions, and the Technology that Will Change It All. In this episode, Vartanian reflects on his experience responding to the S&L crisis and how that informed his view on the role of government in contributing to financial risks, what lessons the government failed to learn from the 2008 crisis, and how he would reform our current regulatory structure by reducing the number of agencies involved. Vartanian concludes by talking about the vulnerabilities in our financial infrastructure.

President Biden plans to pay for his $2 trillion infrastructure package by raising corporate tax rates and imposing a global minimum tax of 21%. In this episode, Peter Barnes breaks down how a global minimum tax would work in practice and the challenges involved in negotiating an international tax agreement. Peter is a senior lecturing fellow at Duke Law and the Duke Center for International Development as well as of counsel at Washington DC Law Firm Caplin and Drysdale. Peter spent over twenty years as senior international tax counsel at General Electric and prior to GE, Peter worked in the Office of Tax Policy at the U.S. Treasury Department.

Investor Bill Hwang set off a storm in the stock market in March when his firm, Archegos Capital Management, and its banks, began liquidating huge positions in blue-chip companies that left their counterparties with $10bn in losses. In this episode, Duke Law professors Gina-Gail Fletcher, Elisabeth de Fontenay, Jim Cox, Lee Reiners, and Lawrence Baxter explain why Archegos failed, who got hurt, and what should be done about it.

Financial services regulatory reform will continue to be active these next three plus years, with the Biden administration focused on activity at the intersection of financial regulation and social policy. However, the pace and tenor of change under the Biden administration will be heavily influenced by the leadership of and senior personnel at the federal prudential and market regulators. In this episode, Duke Law professors Sarah Bloom Raskin, Gina-Gail Fletcher, Elisabeth de Fontenay, Jim Cox, and Lawrence Baxter break down what we might expect for financial regulation under the Biden administration.

For 18 years, Kerry Killinger was CEO of Washington Mutual - a lender in the Pacific Northwest that he grew into the sixth largest bank in the country prior to its collapse in September of 2008. Kerry, along with his wife Linda, recently published “Nothing is Too Big to Fail: How the Last Financial Crisis Informs Today.” In this episode, the Killingers discuss why they believe Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase schemed behind the scenes to get the FDIC to seize WaMu, why Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson wanted to eliminate the thrift industry, and what post-crisis assessments of WaMu's collapse by the U.S. Senate and others got wrong. Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center's blog, The FinReg Blog. You can learn more about the Global Financial Markets Center by visiting our website: https://law.duke.edu/globalfinancialmarkets/

While the pandemic has devastated minority communities, a small handful of wealthy, billionaire landlords are cashing in to the tune of millions. In this episode, Sara Myklebust from Georgetown University's Kalmanovitz Initiative and Patrick Woodall from Americans for Financial Reform discuss the findings from their new report: “Cashing in Our Homes.”  The report, produced by Bargaining for the Common Good, the Institute for Policy Studies, and the Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, details how a handful of billionaires and corporate landlords have seen the pandemic as an opportunity to cash in on hard times. Access the report at: https://ips-dc.org/cashing-in-on-our-homes/

At $1.9 trillion dollars, the recently signed American Rescue Plan is the largest spending bill in U.S. history and it provides much needed direct relief to millions of Americans who have been struggling for over a year while Covid-19 wreaked havoc on our health and our economy.  In this episode, Vanguard's global chief economist, Joe Davis, talks about the impact certain provisions in the stimulus bill will have on those in need and the broader economy, the potential for inflation to finally rear its head, and what he would like to see included in an upcoming infrastructure package. Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center's blog, The FinReg Blog. You can learn more about the Global Financial Markets Center by visiting our website: https://law.duke.edu/globalfinancialmarkets/

David Berger is a partner at Wilson Sonsini in Silicon Valley, where he specializes in corporate governance and M&A litigation as well as rapid response shareholder activism. More importantly for this conversation, David served on the Commission responsible for developing the Framework for Inclusive Capitalism which was released in February. David spoke about how the Commission came together and some of the framework's key recommendations as well as the detrimental effects of shareholder primacy, a topic David has written extensively about and which is reflected in the framework's recommendations to give workers a greater say in how corporations are run. Read the Framework for Inclusive Capitalism here: https://www.coalitionforinclusivecapitalism.com/workers/

The recent GameStop fiasco has given new momentum to the concept of a financial transactions tax. In this episode, Lenore Palladino explains why we need a financial transactions tax and sheds insights on recent state and federal proposals to tax financial transactions. Lenore is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst as well as a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. Last month, Lenore wrote an article in The Appeal titled “The Case for the financial transaction tax in 2021.”

Ant Group, operator of Chinese payment behemoth Alipay, was set to have the largest IPO in history last November before Chinese regulators suddenly pulled the plug. In this episode, Martin Chorzempa from the Peterson Institute for International Economics, talks about the Chinese government's response to the emergence of fintech, the evolution of Ant's business model in recent years, what Ant's scuttled IPO means for other fintech firms going forward, and the status of China's proposed central bank digital currency. Show notes China, the United States, and central bank digital currencies: how important is it to be first?

GameStop has captured the public's imagination in a way no other finance-related story has since the financial crisis. In this special double episode, we cover GameStop and its broader implications from all angles. In part one, Ty Gellasch discusses the potential legal liability some of the folks on Reddit's Wall Street Bets forum may be facing, the issues around clearing and settlement as well as payment for order flow, and what GameStop means for an already crowded SEC agenda under President Biden. Ty is the executive director of Healthy Markets Association and a nonresident fellow at the Global Financial Markets Center. In part two, you'll hear the audio from a live virtual event that features several Duke Law faculty members discussing what happened with GameStop and RobinHood and answering student questions. If you're less familiar with the details on what happened with GameStop, you may want to skip ahead and first listen to the faculty discussion.

Jeff Naimon and Sasha Leonhardt from Buckley LLP break down the likely course of consumer financial regulation under the Biden administration. In this episode they spoke about President Biden's nominee to lead the CFPB, what the Bureau's priorities are likely to be in the short and long-term, and what it's like for financial services firms to have to deal with dramatic swings in consumer financial enforcement and regulation every time the presidency changes hands.

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, or SPACs,  have become one of the hottest things in finance over the past year. In this episode, Shami Patel talks about why SPACs have become an attractive option for private companies that want to go public, how a typical SPAC is structured, and his thoughts on some of the more common SPAC critiques. Shami has worked on multiple fintech focused SPACs during his career, including his current role as chief operating officer at Ftac Olympus Acquisition Corporation.

Liam Vaughan discusses the incredible story of how the price of oil went to negative $38 per barrel on April 20th, 2020 and the tight knit crew of suburban London traders who made a king's ransom when it did. Liam is a senior reporter with Bloomberg and Businessweek magazine in London. His December 10th article in Businessweek, co-written with Kit Chellel and Benjamin Bain, is tilted “The Essex Boys: How Nine Traders Hit a Gusher With Negative Oil.” The Essex Boys: How Nine Traders Hit a Gusher With Negative Oil

2020 was a critical year in the continued expansion of the cryptocurrency market and not just because the year ended with Bitcoin's price at an all-time high of close to $30,000. In this episode, Tim Swanson breaks down major developments in the cryptocurrency market over the past year; from the rise of stablecoins and central bank digital currencies, to regulatory crackdowns on crypto firms. Tim is head of market intelligence at London-based blockchain company Clearmatics and is the founder and director of research at tech advisory firm Post Oak Labs. Parasitic stablecoins | Great Wall of Numbers The Anatomy of a Money-like Informational Commodity: A Study of Bitcoin

Terri Friedline is an associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work and author of the recently released book: Banking on a Revolution: Why Financial Technology Won't Save a Broken System. The book examines how the existing financial system discriminates against the poor and people of color, and makes the case for a new, revolutionized financial system that centers the needs, experiences, and perspectives of those it has historically excluded, marginalized, and exploited. In this episode, Terri discusses how social workers can play a role in changing the financial system, the problems with traditional credit scores, how fintech, despite its claims, doesn't automatically improve financial inclusion, and so much more.

Congress passed the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) in 1977 to encourage depository institutions to meet the credit needs of lower income neighborhoods. The last major changes to the regulations implementing CRA came in 1995, which has led to no shortage of calls to modernize CRA for our digital era. In this episode, Jesse Van Tol, CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, offers his thoughts on recent regulatory proposals to modernize CRA and what the final outcome is likely to be under a Biden Administration.

Jesse Hamilton McCoy II is the James Scott Farrin Lecturing Fellow at Duke Law and supervising attorney for the Duke Law Civil Justice Clinic. Jesse also runs the Durham County eviction diversion program in partnership with Legal Aid of North Carolina and the Durham County Department of Social Services. In this episode, Jesse discusses the impact of various state and federal eviction moratoria on his clients and what needs to be done in order to prevent evicting millions of Americans in the midst of a pandemic that is only getting worse.

Art Wilmarth is Professor Emeritus at The George Washington University Law School and author of Taming the Megabanks: Why We Need a New Glass-Steagall Act. The book traces the evolution of the US banking sector from the late 19th century to today, and demonstrates that universal banks were at the center of the great Depression and the Great Recession of 2007-09. In this episode, Art makes the case for reestablishing a clear structural separation between banks and the capital markets and for prohibiting nonbanks from issuing short-term financial claims, like money market mutual funds, that function as deposit substitutes.

Bob Litterman is chairman of the Risk Committee and a founding partner at Kepos Capital. Bob was also the chairman of the CFTC's Climate-Related Market Risk Subcommittee which last month released a comprehensive report that identifies climate change as a systemic risk to the U.S. financial system and presents 53 detailed policy recommendations, the first of which is the need for an economy wide price on carbon. In this episode Bob talks about his background in risk management, how he got interested in climate change, and the incentives that are needed to transition to a net-zero emissions economy. Climate Risk Disclosure Lab Report: https://climatedisclosurelab.duke.edu/2020/10/climate-risk-disclosure-lab-report/ CFTC Report: https://www.cftc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-09/9-9-20%20Report%20of%20the%20Subcommittee%20on%20Climate-Related%20Market%20Risk%20-%20Managing%20Climate%20Risk%20in%20the%20U.S.%20Financial%20System%20for%20posting.pdf

Dick Kovacevich was CEO of Wells Fargo from 1998 until 2007, during which time he built the company into a banking powerhouse. Dick's relentless focus on selling Wells Fargo's customers as many products as possible is what made Wells such a widely admired company, but it also sowed the seeds of Wells Fargo's later problems. In this episode Dick discusses his philosophy of banking and the fake account scandal that became national news in 2016 with Lee Reiners and special co-host Patrick Rucker from The Capitol Forum. Notes: 29:11 - Wells Fargo more like Home Depot than Goldman Sachs. 37:20 - Telling managers that he was disappointed in sales numbers. 55:47 - Attrition loss of customers employees 1:05:57 - What would he say to the employees who were fired  1:14:59 - Discusses whether executives should go to jail  1:18:00 - Discusses continuing to work at the bank

Climate change poses a "slow motion" systemic threat to the stability of the U.S. financial system requiring urgent action from financial regulators, including the Federal Reserve and the Securities Exchange Commission. That is one of the findings of a recently released landmark report commissioned by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and put together by a panel convened about 10 months ago by CFTC Commissioner Rostin Behnam. In this episode Commissioner Behnam discusses the report's recommendations and next steps with Duke Law professor Sarah Bloom Raskin. Report: https://www.cftc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-09/9-9-20%20Report%20of%20the%20Subcommittee%20on%20Climate-Related%20Market%20Risk%20-%20Managing%20Climate%20Risk%20in%20the%20U.S.%20Financial%20System%20for%20posting.pdf

Richard Cordray served as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). His new book, "Watchdog: How Protecting Consumers Can Save Our Families, Our Economy, and Our Democracy," shows how the Bureau quickly became a powerful force for good, suing big banks for cheating or deceiving consumers, putting limits on predatory lenders, simplifying mortgage paperwork, and stepping in to help solve problems raised by individual consumers. On this episode, Rich shares insights from his book and offers his thoughts on the Supreme Court's Seila Law decision. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/29/why-cfpbs-loss-supreme-court-is-really-win/ https://medium.com/@RichCordray/cfpbwhitepaper-193a5aed0d75

Rodney Hood is the first African-American to lead a federal banking regulatory agency, the National Credit Union Administration-the independent agency that oversees the nation's federally insured credit unions. Since entering the role last year, Chairman Hood has focused on building and reinforcing places that have fallen behind, often in areas where opportunity is limited, like hard-pressed urban neighborhoods and rural communities fighting decline. In this episode, Chairman Hood offers his thoughts on how financial regulators can make inclusion a major priority in the financial industry and what financial institutions can do to promote financial inclusion and opportunities in underserved communities. https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-banks-can-help-america-heal-11591311103 Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center's blog, The FinReg Blog.

Jim Sills, CEO and President of M&F Bank in Durham, North Carolina, joins us to discuss the role of Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs), the challenges they are facing during the pandemic, and the opportunities presented by a renewed focus on supporting black owned banks in the wake of George Floyd's death. M&F Bank was founded in 1907 by a group of nine successful African American businessmen in Durham in a thriving district that came to be known as Black Wall Street. Today, M&F Bank is a $265 million asset state-chartered bank with over 70 employees and serving the five largest urban markets in North Carolina: Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro, Winston Salem and Raleigh. Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center's blog, The FinReg Blog.