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Sam Knight - page 50

Sam Knight has 859 articles published.

S.E.C. Proposes Shedding Light on Relatively Unregulated Firms That Have Grown Five-Fold Since Collapse

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously on Thursday to propose making mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) more open about practices amid fears the investment firms pose an increasingly large risk that regulators are currently unable to cope with. The rules, if finalized, would seek to ensure that investors can liquidate their mutual fund assets “in a timely manner” by forcing firms to be open about and prepare for the possibility of withdrawal panics. “Under the proposed reforms, mutual funds and ETFs would be… Keep Reading

Petraeus: U.S. Can Bomb Syrian Government “Without Undue Risk”

Former CIA head and commander of forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, said that forces could take out Syrian Air Force assets “without undue risk.” Petraeus made the remarks Tuesday before the Senate Armed Forces Committee, as part of a call for increased US military intervention in Syria’s ongoing Civil War. He was the sole witness at a hearing on the Obama administration’s foreign policy in the Middle East. “It was publicly reported that had we taken out the chemical system in… Keep Reading

Post-Ferguson Criminal Justice Reform Must Include Intent Provisions, Key Republican Says

A Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee said that reforms being considered by the panel in the wake of nationwide protests against systemic racial inequality must include language to clarify what constitutes a criminal offense. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said that the importance of criminal intent—a judicial concept known in Latin as mens rea—has been underlooked in the writing and application of laws and regulations, and that the issue must be addressed by a legislative package currently being hashed out by the committee. “I… Keep Reading

G.O.P. Financial Regulator Denies Oil Speculators Need Reining In, As Rule Awaits Finalization

A key Republican financial regulator continued his crusade this week against a proposed rule on speculation, repeating claims that the practice doesn’t have a negative impact on markets. Commodity Futures Trading Commission member Christopher Giancarlo said that although the body is moving forward with the regulatory work mandated by the landmark Wall Street reform law, “there was a complete lack of real data supporting the need to enact position limits,” particularly in energy markets. He then cited the energy spike before the worldwide economic collapse of… Keep Reading

Fed Maintains Key Interest Rate, Distances Itself Slightly From 2015 Hike, But One Is Likely

The Federal Reserve on Thursday announced that it would leave key interest rates unchanged with a statement that suggested China’s summer stock market woes informed their decision. “Recent global economic and financial developments may restrain economic activity somewhat and are likely to put further downward pressure on inflation in the near term,” the Fed’s Board of Governors said. The central bank suggested that it would in a few months increase wholesale borrowing costs. In charts published by the Fed alongside its statement, 13 out of… Keep Reading

John McCain Calls on Navy to “Pass On By” Disputed Waters Claimed by China

Senate Armed Services Committee chair John McCain called on President Obama to openly challenge controversial Chinese claims on small islands in the South China Sea. McCain told administration witnesses at a committee hearing Thursday that the US Navy should dispatch boats more frequently within 12 nautical miles of Beijing’s militarized land reclamation projects. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs David Shear had told McCain that the US has not sent a ship within the internationally-recognized territorial coastline limit since 2012. “I’m… Keep Reading

U.S. Boots Were on the Ground In Syria Helping Militants Before “Train and Equip,” General Reveals

A top US military commander briefly revealed Wednesday that US special forces were operating in Syria late last year to combat the Islamic State (ISIL). Gen. Lloyd Austin, the leader of the US military’s Central Command, claimed before the Senate Armed Services Committee, that Special Operations Forces “didn’t wait for the new Syrian force program, the train and equip program to fully develop” before engaging certain Syrian Civil War factions already fighting ISIL. “At the very outset, they began to engage elements like the YPG and… Keep Reading

Leahy: Egypt’s Attack On Mexicans “Unfortunately…Not An Isolated Occurrence”

Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on Wednesday described the Egyptian military’s mistaken attack on Mexican tourists as part of a series of violent incidents, and called for scrutiny of American aid to Cairo. Leahy, who has questioned the legality of US assistance to Egypt, noted that the key ally’s security forces have been accused of committing a range of abuses without consequence. “This was a terrible avoidable tragedy that unfortunately was not an isolated occurrence,” he said in a statement. “There have been other… Keep Reading

D.H.S. Cyber Threat Sharing Plan Vulnerable To Confusion, Abuse

The Department of Homeland Security is in the process of figuring out what information it can share across its offices in “near real time” to address cyber threats, even though officials reported being confused about the online responsibilities of a key agency. The DHS inspector general (OIG) said that the department is currently hashing out a wider digital security strategy that will layout which types of data “that can and will be shared, information handling procedures, and access controls.” OIG officials said in a report… Keep Reading

U.S. Defers on Egypt Military Tourist Slaughter Probe; Apache Helicopters May Have Been Used

The State Department said Monday it didn’t want to speculate on the details of an Egyptian military attack that on Sunday killed a dozen civilians. Department Spokesperson John Kirby said he wasn’t prepared to comment on the incident, which left eight Mexican tourists dead, and could impact already-scrutinized aid to the authoritarian government of Egypt. “The Egyptians have said they’re going to investigate this, this tragic accident,” Kirby said. “So we need to let the investigation proceed before we jump to any conclusions about exactly what… Keep Reading

Democratic Rep on Friday Iran Deal Votes: 9/11 Has “Been Exploited Before Today”

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) accused his Republican colleagues of scheduling Friday votes on the Iran nuclear agreement to “exploit” the attacks of September 11, 2001. Doggett said the timing of the ultimately symbolic procedures—the 14th anniversary of the attacks–only lends credence to the idea that conservatives are glaringly bereft of credibility when it comes to issues involving weapons of mass destruction and the Middle East. “The justifiable fear of another terrorist attack and the justifiable outrage about the terrorist attacks of 9/11 have been exploited… Keep Reading

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