WASHINGTON – The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed in early July by the chiefs of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Federal Reserve, is being hailed as an important step in reducing agency turf rivalry, and pointing the way to the longer-term modernisation of the country’s regulatory structure.

LONDON – Beleaguered credit rating agencies, caught between regulators’ demands that they develop a new rating scale for structured products, and investors who do not like that idea, are struggling to find a compromise. Fitch Ratings is the latest agency to propose new types of rating indicators that do not involve introducing a new scale for structured finance that is entirely different from the scale used for more traditional bonds.

LONDON – Islamic banks must develop a greater diversity of business models and more diverse income sources, as well as more rigorous risk management and stress testing techniques, to deal with any downturn in economic activity, Bahrain’s central bank chief said in July.

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts – The year-old financial crisis is giving rise to new fears about the competitiveness of America’s capital market. This has prompted the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation (CCMR) to launch a fresh study, examining how the markets are being affected and what must be done to revitalise them.

LONDON – The UK government’s plans to improve the handling of banking crises in the wake of the damaging Northern Rock fiasco have come under fire from the country\'s central bank chief.

NEW YORK - Arnold Schilder, one of the regulatory world’s top accounting experts, is to lead the body that seeks to set global standards for the auditing profession as it seeks to enhance its efforts in the wake of the credit crisis.

BASEL – Malcolm Knight has effectively stepped down earlier than planned as Bank for International Settlements (BIS) general manager in order to avoid any conflict of interest arising from his move to Germany’s Deutsche Bank group.

LONDON – Trustees overseeing the global accounting rule-makers of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have published a discussion document on their proposals for urgently enhancing accountability and increasing IASB membership.

BASEL, Switzerland – The flexibility of the Basel II bank safety rules makes it easier to overcome the challenges of developing a new stability framework that can actively resist the inherent “procyclicality” of the world’s financial system, global financial regulators said at the end of June.

BRUSSELS – Europe’s top financial services regulator Charlie McCreevy wants a careful assessment of any changes to accounting standards emerging from the credit crisis.