Financial Regulation

Trump Family's USD1 Stablecoin Fails to Publish Attestation Reports, Raising Transparency Concerns

| Importance: 8/10

NYDIG, a prominent Bitcoin financial services firm, publicly flagged World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin for failing to publish required monthly attestation reports, with the most recent report dating from July 2025—over two months behind schedule. Greg Cipolaro, NYDIG’s Global …

World Liberty Financial NYDIG Greg Cipolaro BitGo Trust BitGo Technologies +1 more world-liberty-financial usd1-stablecoin cryptocurrency transparency-failure attestation-reports +6 more
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Robinhood DTCC Collateral Waiver Revealed in GameStop Short Squeeze Fallout

| Importance: 9/10

In January 2021, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) granted Robinhood an unprecedented $9.7 billion collateral waiver during the GameStop short squeeze. This extraordinary measure prevented Robinhood from defaulting on its regulatory obligations, revealing significant gaps in …

Robinhood Financial DTCC Dan Gallagher U.S. House Committee on Financial Services financial-regulation robinhood dtcc gamestop-short-squeeze regulatory-capture
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Facebook IPO Market Manipulation by Morgan Stanley

| Importance: 9/10

Morgan Stanley and other underwriters engaged in selective disclosure during Facebook’s initial public offering, revealing sensitive financial information only to institutional investors. Massachusetts securities regulators fined Morgan Stanley million for creating an ‘unlevel playing …

Morgan Stanley Facebook William Galvin James Gorman securities-fraud market-manipulation tech-industry financial-regulation facebook +1 more
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STOCK Act Signed into Law

| Importance: 8/10

President Barack Obama signed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act into law, addressing long-standing concerns about insider trading by members of Congress. The bipartisan legislation, passed with overwhelming support (96-3 in Senate, 417-2 in House), prohibits members of Congress …

Barack Obama Congress Scott Brown Kirsten Gillibrand Joe Lieberman regulatory-capture financial-regulation congressional-ethics insider-trading government-accountability
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STOCK Act Gains Momentum After 60 Minutes Exposes Congressional Insider Trading

| Importance: 8/10

The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act gained explosive momentum after CBS’s 60 Minutes aired an investigation on November 13, 2011, revealing that several members of Congress allegedly used non-public information obtained through their official positions for personal …

Scott Brown Kirsten Gillibrand Brian Baird congressional corruption insider trading political accountability financial regulation ethics reform
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Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Report Released, No Banker Prosecutions Follow

| Importance: 9/10

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), established in 2010 and led by Phil Angelides, released its final report concluding the 2008 financial crisis was caused by a “systemic breakdown in accountability and ethics” on the part of corporate executives. The commission was …

Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Phil Angelides Lloyd Blankfein Jamie Dimon U.S. Congress financial-regulation corporate-impunity regulatory-capture accountability-crisis 2008-financial-crisis
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Sarbanes-Oxley Act Signed Into Law as Brief Reform Moment

| Importance: 10/10

On July 30, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act into law, calling it “the most far-reaching reforms of American business practices since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt.” The legislation passed with overwhelming bipartisan support—423 to 3 in the House and 99 …

George W. Bush Paul Sarbanes Michael Oxley corporate-fraud legislation corporate-accountability financial-regulation reform
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Brooksley Born's Derivatives Regulation Warning Systematically Suppressed

| Importance: 10/10

CFTC Chair Brooksley Born issued a concept release seeking public comment on regulating the $29 trillion over-the-counter derivatives market, warning of systemic risks from unregulated trading. Within hours, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, and SEC Chairman …

Brooksley Born Robert Rubin Lawrence Summers Alan Greenspan Arthur Levitt derivatives cftc regulatory-capture financial-crisis systemic-risk +2 more
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Banking Act of 1935 Restructures Federal Reserve, Reduces Wall Street Influence Over Monetary Policy

| Importance: 8/10

President Roosevelt signs the Banking Act of 1935 on August 23, 1935, fundamentally restructuring the Federal Reserve System to centralize monetary policy authority in a reformed Board of Governors in Washington rather than the twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks, which had been dominated by …

Franklin D. Roosevelt Marriner Eccles Carter Glass U.S. Congress Federal Reserve Board +1 more financial-regulation new-deal federal-reserve banking-reform monetary-policy +1 more
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Joseph Kennedy Appointed First SEC Chairman - Wall Street Insider to Police Wall Street

| Importance: 7/10

President Roosevelt appoints Joseph P. Kennedy, a wealthy Wall Street speculator known for stock manipulation and insider trading, as the first chairman of the newly-created Securities and Exchange Commission on July 2, 1934. The appointment shocks New Deal reformers and delights Wall Street, …

Franklin D. Roosevelt Joseph P. Kennedy Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Wall Street regulatory-capture new-deal sec financial-regulation revolving-door
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Pecora Commission Issues Final Report on Wall Street Corruption

| Importance: 9/10

The Senate Banking and Currency Committee issued its 400-page final report documenting the systematic corruption, fraud, and market manipulation that caused the 1929 Wall Street crash and subsequent Great Depression. The investigation, which began on March 4, 1932 with Senate Resolution 84 and …

Ferdinand Pecora U.S. Senate Committee on Banking and Currency Senator Duncan Fletcher financial-regulation corporate-accountability congressional-oversight institutional-integrity
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Securities Exchange Act Creates SEC, Regulates Secondary Markets

| Importance: 9/10

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 into law on June 6, 1934, establishing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and comprehensive federal regulation of secondary securities trading (stocks, bonds, and debentures). FDR’s compromise approach attempts …

Franklin D. Roosevelt Joseph P. Kennedy Ferdinand Pecora Richard Whitney New York Stock Exchange +3 more financial-regulation new-deal sec-creation securities-law regulatory-victory +1 more
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Gold Reserve Act Nationalizes Gold Holdings and Devalues Dollar Over Wall Street Opposition

| Importance: 8/10

President Roosevelt signs the Gold Reserve Act on January 30, 1934, nationalizing all gold holdings in the United States, transferring ownership of Federal Reserve gold to the U.S. Treasury, and authorizing the President to set the gold value of the dollar between 50 and 60 percent of its previous …

Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. Congress Federal Reserve Wall Street banking industry +1 more new-deal monetary-policy gold-standard financial-regulation corporate-resistance
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Securities Act of 1933 Establishes Federal Securities Regulation

| Importance: 9/10

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Securities Act of 1933 into law on May 27, 1933, establishing the first major federal regulation of securities markets and requiring that investors receive financial and material information about securities offered for public sale. Often called the …

Franklin D. Roosevelt Huston Thompson Federal Trade Commission Wall Street Securities Industry financial-regulation new-deal securities-law investor-protection regulatory-victory +1 more
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J.P. Morgan Jr. Testifies, Preferred List and Tax Evasion Exposed

| Importance: 10/10

J.P. Morgan Jr., head of the most powerful banking house in America, testified before the Pecora Commission in hearings that riveted the nation. The New York Times headline on May 24, 1933 blared: “Morgan Paid No Income Tax for 1931 or 1932.” Morgan admitted under oath that he and his …

J.P. Morgan Jr. J.P. Morgan and Company Ferdinand Pecora U.S. Senate Committee on Banking and Currency Calvin Coolidge +1 more financial-regulation insider-trading corporate-accountability tax-evasion political-corruption
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Pecora Commission Exposes Albert Wiggin's Short Selling of Chase Bank Stock

| Importance: 9/10

The Pecora Commission revealed that Albert Wiggin, chairman of Chase National Bank, had secretly profited from his bank’s collapse during the 1929 crash. Beginning in September 1929, even as Wiggin publicly committed Chase’s funds to investment pools intended to stabilize the falling …

Albert H. Wiggin Chase National Bank Ferdinand Pecora U.S. Senate Committee on Banking and Currency financial-regulation insider-trading corporate-accountability tax-evasion banking-fraud
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Emergency Banking Act Passes in Eight Hours to Stabilize Collapsing Banking System

| Importance: 9/10

On March 9, 1933, just five days after Franklin Roosevelt’s inauguration and three days after his declaration of a national bank holiday, Congress passes the Emergency Banking Act in a mere eight hours—many members voting without even reading the legislation. The act grants the President …

Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. Congress Federal Reserve William Woodin banking industry new-deal banking-crisis financial-regulation emergency-powers
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FDR Declares National Bank Holiday, Closing All Banks to Stop Collapse of Financial System

| Importance: 9/10

On March 6, 1933, two days after his inauguration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt invokes emergency powers to declare a nationwide “bank holiday,” closing all banks in the United States and suspending all banking transactions. The unprecedented action aims to stop the complete collapse …

Franklin D. Roosevelt banking industry Federal Reserve American depositors banking-crisis new-deal financial-regulation emergency-powers great-depression
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Charles Mitchell Testifies Before Pecora Commission, Resigns in Disgrace

| Importance: 9/10

Charles E. Mitchell, chairman of National City Bank (predecessor to Citigroup), began testimony before the Senate Banking Committee’s Pecora investigation after receiving a subpoena on January 24, 1933. Under Ferdinand Pecora’s meticulous questioning, Mitchell confessed that his 1929 …

Charles E. Mitchell National City Bank National City Company Ferdinand Pecora U.S. Senate Committee on Banking and Currency financial-regulation corporate-accountability tax-evasion banking-fraud congressional-oversight
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Ferdinand Pecora Appointed Chief Counsel to Senate Banking Investigation

| Importance: 9/10

Republican Senator Peter Norbeck appointed Ferdinand Pecora, a former New York deputy district attorney, as the fourth chief counsel to the Senate Banking and Currency Committee’s investigation into the Wall Street crash. Pecora, son of Italian immigrants who grew up in Hell’s Kitchen, …

Ferdinand Pecora Senator Peter Norbeck Senator Duncan Fletcher U.S. Senate Committee on Banking and Currency financial-regulation corporate-accountability congressional-oversight institutional-integrity
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Senate Banking Committee Launches Investigation into Wall Street Crash

| Importance: 8/10

The U.S. Senate passed Senate Resolution 84, authorizing the Committee on Banking and Currency to investigate “practices with respect to the buying and selling and the borrowing and lending” of stocks and securities following the 1929 Wall Street crash. The investigation, chaired …

U.S. Senate Committee on Banking and Currency Senator Peter Norbeck Senator Duncan Fletcher financial-regulation corporate-accountability congressional-oversight great-depression
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Federal Reserve Act Creates Central Banking System: Wilson Signs Compromise Between Private Bank Control and Government Oversight

| Importance: 10/10

President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act at 6:00 p.m., creating the Federal Reserve System as the central banking system of the United States. The need for a central bank became evident during the Panic of 1907, when the federal government lacked tools to respond and had to depend on …

President Woodrow Wilson Carter Glass Robert Latham Owen JP Morgan William Jennings Bryan banking-consolidation progressive-era financial-regulation federal-reserve jp-morgan
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