Compliancex

Looking for Cash, Congress Finds Some in a Corporate Pension Rule Tweak [TNYT] Lawmakers looking for money to finance low-cost student loans and fix aging highways have found about $20 billion in an unlikely place: company pension funds. Pension funds are not exactly brimming over with extra money. In 2006, Congress was concerned enough about bolstering them to pass legislation closing loopholes and making companies set money aside more quickly.

Funds and Allies Defend the Buck [TNYT] Here’s a clever idea. Let’s start a bank. It will take deposits, promising to pay them back on demand. It will use the money to make short-term loans to borrowers it thinks are safe. If too many depositors want their money back quickly, it will sell the loans to somebody else, for face value.

Barclays, RBS Will Compensate Clients Mis-Sold Derivatives [Bloomberg] Barclays Plc (BARC), Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Britain’s two other biggest banks will compensate small and medium-sized businesses improperly sold interest-rate derivatives following a probe by the U.K. financial regulator.

J.P. Morgan Models Get Regulatory Spotlight [WSJ] Regulators have stepped up scrutiny of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s internal controls by asking the bank to demonstrate that its risk models are designed and working properly, according to people close to the situation.

State Regulators In U.S. Examine Structured Note Sales [Bloomberg] A group of U.S. state securities regulators is seeking information on the sales practices of 10 structured-note issuers after a similar request from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

JPMorgan Likely To Post $4 Billion To $6 Billion Trade Loss [YahooFinance] JPMorgan Chase & Co’s losses from disastrous derivatives trades will likely amount to $4 billion to $6 billion in the second quarter, far more than the original estimate of at least $2 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter.

SEC Could Seek Nasdaq Upgrading [WSJ] Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. may be forced by securities regulators to upgrade its trading systems in the wake of last month’s glitch-ridden stock sale by Facebook Inc. The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating what caused the mishaps that plagued the Nasdaq Stock Market during Facebook shares’ debut on May 18 and the effects on brokers and investors who lost money.

RBS Set for Fine as Barclays Boss Remains Defiant [NYTimes] Royal Bank of Scotland could face a hefty fine from the same interest rate rigging scandal that has hammered Barclays this week and left its boss Bob Diamond fighting for his job. Taxpayer-backed RBS is set to be fined about 150 million pounds ($233 million) for participating in market manipulation offences similar to those engaged in by Barclays, the Times newspaper said.

Nomura Finds Weakness in Controls [WSJ] Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan’s biggest brokerage, has found widespread weakness in its internal controls that led to a series of leaks of nonpublic information, a person familiar with the brokerage investigation said Friday.