Zachary

Zachary Warmbrodt is a financial services reporter for POLITICO Pro. He came from Argus Media, where he split nearly four years between Houston and Washington reporting on energy markets, including a few trips to oil refineries and numerous visits to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. A Texas native, he previously covered business as an intern at his hometown paper The Dallas Morning News, The Oklahoman and the Austin Business Journal. While attending the University of Texas at Austin, he served as managing editor for The Daily Texan and worked as a Web content producer for the Austin American-Statesman’s Virtual Capitol site.

[zachary]

Hillary Clinton has already racked up endorsements from scores of Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate. Now, she's gaining the backing of former Democratic staffers on the Hill and in the White House who helped usher through the historic overhaul of Wall Street regulation after the 2008 financial crisis.

[zachary]

The chances that Congress would move quickly in the coming weeks to renew a terrorism risk insurance program set to expire this year dimmed on Thursday after key House lawmakers said they are prepared for months of negotiations, a move that ratcheted up the tensions surrounding the debate.

[zachary]

Turmoil over terrorism insurance

Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling is engaged in yet another behind-the-scenes power struggle with his fellow Republicans, this time over a government-backed program that helps insure property in the case of a large-scale terrorist attack. The issue is dividing the party, pitting conservatives against more traditional pro-business Republicans and members who...

[zachary]

Colleagues already eyeing Jeb Hensarling’s chairmanship

As Rep. Jeb Hensarling considers a potentially career-altering political decision, the speculation and early jockeying over his Financial Services Committee chairmanship have already kicked into high gear.Within a day of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s shocking defeat in his primary, Hensarling announced on Wednesday that he is “prayerfully”...

[zachary]

Wall Street loses ally with Eric Cantor loss

Wall Street and the financial services industry are losing a top ally in congressional leadership after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was defeated in a primary contest on Tuesday, a shocking upset that raises questions about Republicans’ agenda for the rest of this year and in the next Congress. Many lobbyists on K Street whose clients include...

[zachary]

Bob Corker criticized for 'midget' comment

Sen. Bob Corker is under fire for using the M-word.Little People of America on Thursday said the Tennessee Republican’s use of the word “midget” before a Senate Banking Committee vote on Tuesday was “embarrassing and insulting.”Corker used the word as he chided colleagues Tuesday for letting Congressional Budget Office...

[zachary]

The Michael Lewis factor

Talking heads on CNBC for days scoff that worries over high-speed trading are old news and overblown. Reporters on the beat are defensive on Twitter. And Attorney General Eric Holder is telling Congress not to worry — the Justice Department is already looking into high-speed traders. (Sign up for POLITICO’s Morning Money tip sheet)Add it...

[zachary]

Who created Bitcoin? Regulators don't care

The identity of Bitcoin’s mysterious creator “Satoshi Nakamoto” is a sideshow from the point of view of the digital currency’s regulators. Newsweek reported this week that Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto, a 64-year-old living in Southern California, is the creator of Bitcoin. Or maybe not. He denied the report on Thursday to...

[zachary]

Front page insurance story spread out at insurance brokers conference. http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/rest-of-insurance-industry-were-not-aig-90249.html (at Big "I" Legislative Conference)

[zachary]

See me hard at work on page A16 of today's NYT.

[zachary]

Six press tables ready for today's JPMorgan London Whale hearing at PSI. (at Capitol Hill)

[zachary]

JPMorgan Chase and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, have worked tirelessly to put the billions of dollars in “London Whale” trading losses behind the Wall Street firm as it works to restore its once sterling reputation.

But this week, there is a land mine on its road to redemption.

[zachary]

The SEC alumni society is divided over the question of independence.

A bipartisan group of former officials, including four chairmen, stirred the debate last week by asking another set of regulators — the Financial Stability Oversight Council — to stop working on money market mutual fund reforms, which fall under SEC jurisdiction.

But other former chairmen and commissioners of the financial markets regulator say their letter-writing colleagues are missing the point: The agency’s independence shouldn’t trump concerns about risks to the financial system.

[zachary]

The CFTC may be close to finishing a key set of rules required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, but the path to this point has stirred tension among commissioners and has at least one complaining about how Chairman Gary Gensler has run the process.

[zachary]

The SEC is considering putting out new requirements on automated trading that may require exchanges and others to go beyond the voluntary policies put in place after the 1987 "Black Monday" stock market crash.

[zachary]

The former customers of failed futures brokers MF Global and PFGBest are rejecting proposed regulatory protections being drafted to protect them from losing their money in the future.

[zachary]

In September 2010, Jack Lew said during a Senate confirmation hearing that he didn't consider himself an expert in aspects of the financial industry despite being an executive at Citigroup for a couple of years.

That answer may have worked as a candidate for White House budget director, but in his bid to be the nation's next Treasury secretary, he'll have to do better.