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(Dow Jones)- An economist at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is trying to determine if some high-frequency trading strategies in futures contracts tied to the Standard & Poor’s 500 index may moderate price swings like those seen on May 6.

From the Wall Street Journal:
International Monetary Fund economists, reversing the fund’s past opposition to capital controls, urged developing nations to consider using taxes and regulation to moderate vast inflows of capital so they don’t produce asset bubbles and other financial calamities. It said emerging markets with controls in place had fared better than others in [...]

The CFTC issued an order imposing a $1 million penalty against Craig A. Riley and his firm, Pressio Capital Management LP for fraudulently operating a commodity pool and misappropriating pool participant funds. The CFTC administrative order also permanently bars the respondents from engaging in any commodity-related trading activities, including soliciting funds, registering with the CFTC [...]

The main source of worry for observers is some of those funds hit by regulation will migrate to the “dark” side of the market known as “over-the-counter” – fundamentally less transparent and harder to monitor. Michael Dunn, CFTC commissioner, even believes that the new rules may, overall, “result in less transparency in the futures markets”.

To make up for the government’s $117 billion in projected bailout losses, the Obama administration proposed a tax on the bailout’s beneficiaries. “We want our money back, and we’re going to get it,” said the President. The proposed tax is expected to yield $9 billion in annual revenue.

The SEC charged a Houston-based broker with engaging in unauthorized and unsuitable trading on behalf of two Florida municipalities, putting them at risk of losing millions of dollars while he reaped commissions of more than $14 million for himself. The complaint alleges that Harold H. Jaschke, while associated with the brokerage firm First Allied Securities, [...]

The legislation creates a mechanism for governments to dissolve large banks, provides regulation of exotic financial instruments, requires banks to set aside more capital in reserve, eliminates the Office of Thrift Supervision, gives shareholders a greater say on executive pay, and tightens supervision over credit-rating agencies, among other reforms. It passed 223 to 202, with [...]