The FinReg Pod

Chris Giancarlo served as the thirteenth Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. While leading the CFTC, Chris earned the nickname “CryptoDad” for his call on Congress to respect a new generation’s interest in cryptocurrency, an experience he details in his excellent new book “CryptoDad: The Fight for the Future of Money.” Chris is also the co-founder of the digital dollar project, which promotes research into a US central bank digital currency.   Chris’ Twitter: @giancarloMKTS   Related Links   * CryptoDad: The Fight for the Future of Money   CryptoDad: The Fight for the Future of Money: J. Christopher Giancarlo, Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss: 9781119855088: Amazon.com: Books   *The Digital Dollar Project   https://digitaldollarproject.org/

Laura Parisi is team lead at the European Central Bank Climate Change Center and Spyros Alogoskoufis is a financial stability and stress test expert at the European Central Bank. Together, they spearheaded the ECB’s economy-wide climate stress test which was released in September. The exercise tested the impact of climate change on more than four million firms worldwide and 1,600 Euro-area banks under three different climate policy scenarios.   Related Links   * ECB economy-wide climate stress test https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2021/html/ecb.pr210922~59ade4710b.en.html *The ECB pledge on climate change action https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpops/ecb.op271~36775d43c8.en.pdf Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Ari Redbord is the head of legal and government affairs for the blockchain intelligence firm, TRM Labs. Prior to joining TRM Labs, Ari held public sector roles involving cryptocurrency and national security at the Department of Justice and U.S. Department of the Treasury. In this episode, Ari discusses the first time he encountered cryptocurrency as a federal prosecutor, how crypto is being used to evade and undermine US economic sanctions, and how firms like TRM Labs can leverage public blockchains to trace illicit activity.   Ari Redbord’s Twitter: @ARedbord   TRM Labs Twitter: @TRMLabs   Related Links   *Ban Cryptocurrency to Fight Ransomware   https://www.wsj.com/articles/ban-cryptocurrency-to-fight-ransomware-11621962831   *Crypto Isn’t the Cause of Ransomware. It Might Be the Cure   https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/09/14/crypto-isnt-the-cause-of-ransomware-it-might-be-the-cure/

Winston Ma is the author of “The Digital War: How China's Tech Power Shapes the Future of AI, Blockchain and Cyberspace.” The book details the profound global implications as China's digital economy moves from a consumer-focused phase to an enterprise-oriented one, with a focus on the Internet of Things, AI, blockchain, cloud computing, and data analytics. In this episode, Winston discusses the rise of mobile payments in China, China’s crypto ban and digital yuan rollout, and the recent government crackdown on tech companies.   Winston’s Twitter: @Winston_W_Ma   Related Links   The Digital War: How China's Tech Power Shapes the Future of AI, Blockchain and Cyberspace: https://www.amazon.com/Digital-War-Chinas-Blockchain-Cyberspace/dp/1119748917 Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Liam Vaughan is a senior reporter with Bloomberg and Businessweek magazine in London. His article, ‘Most Americans Today Believe the Stock Market Is Rigged, and They’re Right,’ appeared on the October 4th cover of Bloomberg Businessweek. Liam is a returning guest to the podcast and joins Lee to discuss his new article that examines the disturbing behavior of US corporate executives that trade their companies’ stocks.   Liam’s Twitter: @liamvaughanBBG   Related Links * Most Americans Today Believe the Stock Market Is Rigged, and They’re Right’: Is Stock Market Rigged? Insider Trading by Executives Is Pervasive, Critics Say - Bloomberg   Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Alicia Seiger is Managing Director of the Stanford University Sustainable Finance Initiative and Lynn Schenk is Director at the Business and Environment Initiative at Harvard Business School. They both served on the California Climate-Related Risk Disclosure Advisory Group. In this episode, Alicia and Lynn discuss the advisory group’s recent report, “Developing Climate Risk Disclosure Practices for the State of California.” The report offers 45 recommendations from 20 global experts to help California – already a leader on climate action – make even better budget, procurement, and investment decisions across its 262 billion dollar general operating budget and the 1 trillion dollar combined assets under management of its 3 largest pensions in light of the risks and opportunities imposed by climate change.   Alicia Seiger’s profile: https://law.stanford.edu/directory/alicia-seiger/   Alicia’s Twitter: @aaseiger   Lynn Schenk’s profile: https://www.hbs.edu/environment/about/Pages/profile-details.aspx?profile=lschenk   Related Links   * Developing Climate Risk Disclosure Practices for the State of California https://www-cdn.law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Developing-Climate-Risk-Disclosure-Practices-for-the-State-of-California.pdf *Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures Recommendations https://www.fsb-tcfd.org/recommendations/ Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Tariq Fancy is Founder and CEO of The Rumie Initiative and the former Chief Investment Officer for Sustainable Investing at BlackRock. His recent three-part series, “The Secret Diary of a Sustainable Investor”, argues that ESG/sustainable investing is intellectually bankrupt and is damaging to the most important causes it purports to support. Tariq joins The FinReg Pod to discuss how he went from an ESG evangelist to ESG critic and why the private sector is ill-equipped to address climate change on its own.   Tariq’s Twitter: @sosfancy   Rumie’s website: https://about.rumie.org/   Related Links: The Secret Diary of a ‘Sustainable Investor’ — Part 1 https://medium.com/@sosofancy/the-secret-diary-of-a-sustainable-investor-part-1-70b6987fa139 The Secret Diary of a ‘Sustainable Investor’ — Part 2 https://medium.com/@sosofancy/the-secret-diary-of-a-sustainable-investor-part-2-831a25cb642d The Secret Diary of a ‘Sustainable Investor’ — Part 3 https://medium.com/@sosofancy/the-secret-diary-of-a-sustainable-investor-part-3-3c238cb0dcbf A Sense of Purpose, Larry Fink https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2018/01/17/a-sense-of-purpose/ Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation, Business Roundtable https://s3.amazonaws.com/brt.org/BRT-StatementonthePurposeofaCorporationJuly2021.pdf   Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Pat Parkinson is a senior fellow at the Bank Policy Institute and project director for the Group of Thirty’s Working Group on Treasury Market Liquidity. In this episode, Pat discusses the Treasury market meltdown in March 2020 and the Group of Thirty’s recommendations to address key Treasury market fragilities. Specifically, Pat explains why the Federal Reserve’s standing repo facility, launched on July 28, 2021, is not sufficient to prevent future dysfunction in the Treasury market. Pat’s BPI profile: https://bpi.com/people/pat-parkinson/   Related Links: *Enhancing Liquidity of the U.S. Treasury Market Under Stress* by Nellie Liang and Pat Parkinson https://www.brookings.edu/research/enhancing-liquidity-of-the-u-s-treasury-market-under-stress/  *U.S. Treasury Markets: Steps Toward Increased Resilience* by Group of Thirty https://group30.org/images/uploads/publications/G30_U.S_._Treasury_Markets-_Steps_Toward_Increased_Resilience__1.pdf *Clearing a Path to a More Resilient Treasury Market* by FIA Principal Traders Group https://www.fia.org/sites/default/files/2021-07/FIA-PTG_Paper_Resilient%20Treasury%20Market_FINAL.pdf *Statement Regarding Repurchase Agreement Arrangements* by Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20210728b.htm *US Treasuries: The Lessons from March’s Market Meltdown* by Colby Smith and Robin Wigglesworth https://www.ft.com/content/ea6f3104-eeec-466a-a082-76ae78d430fd   Global Financial Markets Center’s Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Mike Konczal is Director of Macroeconomic Analysis and Progressive Thought at the Roosevelt Institute. His recent article “Completing the Revolution in Macroeconomic Policy,” is part of a three-part series from Roosevelt Institute staff that lay out their agendas for the next Federal Reserve term across three different issues: corporate power, climate change, and macroeconomics. In this episode, Mike discusses the radical approach the Fed has taken to monetary policy under Chair Powell, the success of the Fed’s various pandemic related interventions, and Powell’s approach to inflation and monetary tightening. While Mike doesn’t explicitly endorse Powell for reappointment, his article and this interview make a strong case for Powell based upon his track record on full employment and a strong recovery.   Related Links: Completing the Revolution in Macroeconomic Policy by Mike Konczal https://rooseveltinstitute.org/2021/08/16/priorities-for-the-next-federal-reserve-chair-completing-the-revolution-in-macroeconomic-policy/ The Roosevelt Institute’s Priorities for the Next Federal Reserve Chair by Suzanne Kahn https://rooseveltinstitute.org/2021/08/16/roosevelt-institutes-priorities-for-the-next-federal-reserve-chair/ The Fed's Municipal Lending Failed Black Public-Sector Workers by Max Moran https://therevolvingdoorproject.org/the-feds-municipal-lending-failed-black-public-sector-workers/ Monetary Policy in the Time of COVI by Jerome Powell https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/powell20210827a.htm   Mike’s Twitter: @rortybomb Mike’s website: https://rooseveltinstitute.org/authors/mike-konczal/ Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC  

Art Wilmarth is Professor Emeritus at The George Washington University Law School. In this episode, Art discusses his new paper “The Pandemic Crisis Shows that the World Remains Trapped in a 'Global Doom Loop' of Financial Instability, Rising Debt Levels, and Escalating Bailouts.” Art explains the consequences of the Federal Reserve’s backstop of the corporate bond market during the pandemic, what history tells us about the Fed’s ability to taper their quantitative easing program, and how the Fed’s support for shadow deposits like money market funds and commercial paper has fueled the rise of new shadow deposits like stablecoins. House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee: “Quantitative easing: a dangerous addiction?” Howell Jackson and Morgan Ricks: “Locating Stablecoins within the Regulatory Perimeter” Better Markets Releases Report: “Should Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell Be Reappointed?”