SEC and Federal Reserve Enter into Memorandum of Understanding

The SEC and the Federal Reserve System signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two agencies that, according to the press release, should deepen their information sharing and cooperation.  Last week some members of Congress expressed concern that the MOU would be entered into without Congressional imput.

Under the MOU between the two agencies, the SEC and the Board would share information and cooperate across a number of important areas of common interest including anti-money laundering, bank brokerage activities under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, clearance and settlement in the banking and securities industries, and the regulation of transfer agents. The Fed has regulatory responsibilities over banking companies and bank holding companies, while the SEC has regulatory authority over securities companies.

The SEC recently entered into a similar MOU with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. An agreement between the SEC and the Department of Labor is anticipated later this summer.