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Thomson Reuters launches high-speed global network

admin — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:16:16 +0000

LONDON (Reuters) – Thomson Reuters Corp launched a global, high-speed network on Tuesday for financial firms to access real-time data as well as share information with each other directly.

Technology | Media

The company’s new network, called Elektron, includes hosting centers in New York, Chicago, London, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Singapore, with more to come in Hong Kong, India and Brazil later in the year, all connected by a fiber optic ring.

The company is operating the system in partnership with data center company Savvis Inc.

As trading decision are made increasingly by computers, the difficulty has been to execute ideas at high speed that require trades in multiple markets, said Jon Robson, president of Enterprise arm of Thomson Reuters.

“This provides the infrastructure, technology and connections to different markets so that trades can happen quickly,” he said.

Elektron will provide any Thomson Reuters client of any size equal access to high-frequency markets, Robson said.

It will also serve as a neutral distribution platform for participants to exchange research, prices, business ideas or transactions, he said.

Thomson Reuters plans to migrate all of its content to Elektron over time as well as use its greater bandwidth to add deeper levels of market information, Robson said.

Larry Tabb, chief executive of research and consultancy firm TABB Group, said the Elektron system “changes the whole paradigm of how people receive and deliver information.”

“It allows people to communicate more seamlessly, who would otherwise have to rely on slower channels or somebody remembering who gets what,” he added.

High-frequency traders currently install servers of their own next to an exchange’s server at hosting centers, known as colocation, to get rapid access to data and high-speed trading.

“This will be fairly close to what exchanges can provide but it will be an integrated set of data across exchanges instead of colocating at each exchange,” Tabb said.

In a marketplace where competition is focused on high speed information, known as low latency, this is a logical move for Thomson Reuters, said Sang Lee, managing partner specializing in market structure at consultants Aite Group.

Such a network has the potential to create a sense of community over the long term, with customers exchanging trading ideas and business opportunities, Lee said.

“It’s all about building trust. It’s an interesting concept,” he added.

(Editing by David Cowell)

Technology

Media

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TSX perks up on upbeat outlook, U.S. earnings (Reuters)

admin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:59:28 +0000

TORONTO (Reuters) – Toronto's main stock index edged higher on Wednesday morning, with financials leading the gains on upbeat U.S. economic data and company earnings, but held in check by retreating fertilizer issues.

Stronger March retail sales in the United States and forecast-beating results from U.S. bank JPMorgan and tech heavyweight Intel helped boost optimism about the economic recovery and pushed global equities higher.

The TSX financial index made hefty gains as Royal Bank of Canada, the country's biggest lender, shot up 1.6 percent to C$60.45 and Toronto-Dominion Bank added 1.5 percent to C$75.70.

“Financials are certainly reacting nicely to the JPMorgan numbers and a belief that the rest of the U.S. financials are healing and there will be some good sequential earnings going forward into 2011 as the economy recovers,” said Barry Schwartz, a portfolio manager at Baskin Financial Services.

Gold and copper prices also rose, lifting the mining sector 0.7 percent, as a fresh dip by the U.S. dollar added to positive sentiment in the market.

Barrick Gold Corp, the world's biggest gold producer, was little changed at C$40.39, while Teck Resources, Canada's biggest base metal producer, gained 0.7 percent to C$45.26.

At 10:56 a.m. (1445 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 30.72 points, or 0.25 percent, at 12,132.24. Six of its 10 main sectors were lower.

Shares of Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, and other fertilizer producers held back the index's rise, dragging it briefly into negative territory earlier in the session.

Potash Corp the world's biggest producer of the crop nutrient, dropped 3.3 percent to C$108.60 after reports North American producers were having a tough time getting a proposed $30 per ton price increase in the U.S. to stick.

In addition, Potash Corp and U.S. rival Mosaic Co were downgraded by Goldman Sachs. Fertilizer producer and farm products retailer Agrium Inc fell 4.8 percent to C$64.11.

“There seems to be a wheat surplus and good wheat harvesting season in Australia. That doesn't bode well for commodity prices and application of potash for farmers for 2010,” said Schwartz. “That's holding back the Canadian market.”

The energy sector, up 0.3 percent, reversed earlier losses after U.S. government oil inventory data showed crude oil stocks fell last week, against expectations for a build.

Shares of Suncor Energy Inc, Canada's largest oil company, jumped more than 1 percent to C$35.18, while Canadian Natural Resources edged 0.8 percent higher to C$78.77.

($1=$1 Canadian)

(Reporting by Claire Sibonney; editing by Rob Wilson)

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Citi spinoff Primerica soars in NYSE debut (Reuters)

admin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 03:59:36 +0000

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Shares of Citigroup Inc's (C.N) spinoff, Primerica Inc (PRI.N), leaped as much as 30 percent above their initial public offering price on Thursday, on optimism that the life insurer is poised to benefit from a rebounding economy.

The shares opened at $19.15 and rose as high as $19.94 on the New York Stock Exchange early Thursday afternoon.

The IPO's strong reception was also the latest glimmer of positive news for the third-largest U.S. bank, which was forced to seek various government rescues in 2008 and 2009. Citi shares, up 2.5 percent at $4.15, were the top gainers among large banks.

The strong market debut followed a strong pricing on Wednesday that led underwriters to raise the size of the offering by 19 percent to 21.36 million shares. The shares were priced at $15 each, above the expected range of $12 to $14.

But the IPO still sold at a price-to-book value discount to Ameriprise Financial (AMP.N), MetLife (MET.N) and Prudential Financial (PRU.N), which it identified in its prospectus as competitors, said IPOdesktop.com President Francis Gaskins.

The relatively low valuation, plus signs of confidence in a gradually rebounding economy, both contributed to the share's gains, analysts said.

“Life insurance has been hammered by the recession like everything else has, but there has been an uptick over the past year in applications for issuance of traditional bread-and-butter life insurance,” said Clark Troy, a senior analyst at Aite Group LLC. “Insurers have been looking to bulk up their sales forces, and Primerica has one.”

Citi, which accepted $45 billion worth of U.S. government bailout funds, is seeking to divest assets that are not part of its core banking business.

The bank tried to sell Primerica last year, but failed to find a buyer willing to pay a high enough price. Citi has taken nearly $1 billion in dividends out of the company since 2007 and will take another $622 million before the end of the IPO process.

Citi will take all of the proceeds from the offering and most of Primerica's existing accounts. Primerica will keep its new policies.

With a door-to-door sales force topping 100,000, Primerica sells life insurance to lower-middle- and middle-income families.

In the lead-up to the IPO, analysts said Primerica would not be able to invest the proceeds in its growth and instead would rely on its sales force to increase its business.

Co-Chief Executives John Addison and Rick Williams told CNBC they planned to bulk up that sales force to increase Primerica's sales.

“We're going to be a smaller, faster-growing company going forward,” Williams said. “When we grow the sales force, the underlying sales grow.”

After the IPO and a separate deal with private equity investorWarburg Pincus LLC (WP.UL) — which is purchasing a large stake in Primerica — Citi will own 43 percent of the insurer.

Citi was the sole bookrunner on the IPO. If the company and the other underwriters purchase their full overallotment of 3.2 million shares, Citi's stake in Primerica will be reduced to 39 percent.

The IPO and private deal with Warburg should reduce Citi's GAAP assets by about $5 billion during the second quarter, the bank said in a statement.

Michael Holland, chairman of Holland & Co in New York, said that Primerica's successful offering was a good sign for Citi, “but I wouldn't overstate the significance. It's something they had to do and they did it well.”

Holland said the offering could provide some momentum for banks trying to rid themselves of bad assets. The Primerica offering was a good way to “go out there and test the marketplace,” he said.

That precedent will be especially important for Citi, which is trying to shed itself of many assets assembled by Chief ExecutivesSanford Weill and his successor Charles Prince.

The life insurance portion of Primerica was founded in 1977, but the company also has roots in American Can Co, a food packaging business that Gerry Tsai built into a financial conglomerate.

Sandy Weill's Commercial Credit bought Primerica in the late 1980s; the combined companies, together with other acquisitions, became Citigroup.

(Reporting by Clare Baldwin and Maria Aspan; Editing by Maureen Bavdek and Richard Chang)

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Seoul shares slip but defense, tech issues advance (Reuters)

admin — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 17:46:05 +0000

SEOUL (Reuters) – Seoul shares slipped 0.1 percent on Monday, with the sinking of a South Koreannaval ship weighing on sentiment, but continued foreign buying and rises in key technology and auto blue chips lent the market support.

Analysts played down the impact of naval ship incident, as Seoul stocks posted minor losses and as U.S. share reaction to the news was also short-lived.

“Investors appeared to have concluded that the naval ship sinking was not related to North Korea…unless we see drastic developments in the North, such as the crumbing of the current political hierarchy, the market will remain stable,” said Chung Myoung-gi, a market analyst at Samsung Securities.

On Saturday, South Korea all but ruled out the likelihood that North Korea was involved in the sinking of one of its navy vessels near their disputed border.

“Investors will be more focused on key U.S. manufacturing and job data due out later this week, and whether the market posts gains in the coming sessions to hit its earlier high will depend on how that comes out,” Chung added.

Analysts said the market was also helped by news that euro zone leaders won muted approval from financial markets on Friday for a “band aid” agreement to create a safety net for debt-ridden Greece.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (.KS11) (KOSPI) was down 0.11 percent at 1,695.88 points as of 0146 GMT, just shy of the psychologically significant 1,700 point level.

Shares in defense issues jumped after earlier reports that the North may have been involved with the naval ship incident.

“The broader market is obviously shrugging off the naval ship incident…but it seems some retail investors are making bets on individual issues that are North Korea-sensitive,” said Y.S. Rhoo, a market analyst at Hyundai Securities, while adding the movements were likely to be short-lived.

Shares in military equipment maker Victek (065450.KQ), a marker of military equipment parts, rose 5.04 percent and Huneed Technology (005870.KS), a manufacturer of wireless communications equipment for military purposes, jumped 7.28 percent.

But inter-Korea cooperation issues fell, with Romanson (026040.KQ), a watchmaker that has a production unit in the Kaesong industrial park in North Korea, shedding 3.15 percent and Kwangmyung Electric Engineering Co Ltd (017040.KS) losing 5.49 percent.

Automakers rose as the won turned weaker against the dollar.

Shares in Kia Motors (000270.KS), the country's No.2 automaker, rose 2.38 percent and Hyundai Motor (005380.KS), the country's No.1, gained 0.43 percent.

Key technology issues also climbed, with LG Display (034220.KS) up 1.03 percent and Hynix Semiconductor (000660.KS) advancing 2.98 percent.

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SEC says Daimler made $56 million in bribe payments (Reuters)

admin — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 00:05:00 +0000

DAIGn.DE
) allegedly earned $1.9 billion in revenue and at least $91.4 million in illegal profits from transactions tainted by bribes, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
There were more than 200 transactions in which it made at least $56 million in improper payments to foreign officials, the SEC said in its own charges filed this week with a U.S. court, offering new details about the breadth of the deals.
plans to settle the SEC and Justice Department's allegations by paying $185 million, and the company's Russian and German units will plead guilty to violating U.S. anti-bribery laws, court documents filed this week said.
The company will neither admit nor deny the SEC's charges, according to the proposed consent order. A Daimler spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
The transactions in at least 22 countries spanned almost a decade and involved at least 6,300
and some 500 passenger cars, including luxury sedans given to senior foreign government officials, according to the SEC charges.
Some of the payments in question were routed to U.S. bank accounts or to
of shell companies in the United States, the government has alleged.
In an example of the gifts extended, Daimler tried to curry favor to enter the Turkmenistan market by giving two
worth at least 550,000 euros to a senior government official, the SEC said. The company also had a book authored by the official translated into German as a gift.
In another instance, Daimler set aside 11,000 euros to pay for a lavish vacation through
for six Chinese officials, the SEC said, adding that the company paid for 16 such trips in connection with $120 million in vehicle sales to the
.
Additionally, the SEC accused Daimler of paying kickbacks in the
that earned the company more than $4 million in profits from contracts involving the sale of vehicles and spare parts.
used to pay foreign officials.
and the SEC.
is set for April 1 to present the settlement agreement to a U.S. judge who must approve it. If sanctioned, it would be the latest in a series of high-profile bribery cases concluded by the U.S. government.
Earlier this year, BAE Systems Plc settled charges by the United States and
, agreeing to pay about $450 million.
(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky, editing by

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Euro up on Greece plan; Nikkei hits 18-month high (Reuters)

admin — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 13:01:21 +0000

, lifting some pressure on the single currency.
, tempering market reaction.
The deal offers Athens loans and cash but only as a last resort and can only be disbursed with unanimous euro zone approval.
Major European markets (.FTEU3) were expected to open slightly lower, according to financial spreadbetters, with some dealers looking to take profits after
finished slightly lower overnight. (.N)
The euro initially weakened on news of the Greece deal as investors took the view that IMF involvement suggested the 16-country euro zone was unable to handle its problems by itself. But dealers later began to close out some of the bets they had made against the euro, pushing the currency up against the dollar. Dollar weakness, in turn, helped lift
toward $81 and boosted gold.
“Basically, it seems the problem will be settled without much turmoil, so things should calm. The only concern is if more problems arise with Portugal and Spain,” said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities in
.
Adding to worries about government bonds, investor demand at auctions of U.S. Treasuries waned for the third day in a row.
The euro was up 0.45 percent to $1.3335 after plumbing a low just below $1.3280. Under pressure from the
debt crisis, the euro has fallen 6.8 percent so far in the first quarter against the dollar, on track for the biggest quarterly decline since the third quarter of 2008, when
collapsed.
The U.S. dollar index (.DXY), a gauge of the dollar's performance against six other major currencies, slipped 0.3 percent.
UBS currency strategists said in a note that the dollar will likely remain supported against the euro thanks to positive incoming U.S. economic data.
“Many of these same factors — especially growth differentials and the diminished status of the euro owing to sovereign uncertainty — are likely to remain intact into 2011,” they said.
ex-Japan stocks (.MIAPJ0000PUS) recouped early losses to rise 0.7 percent, with gains fairly spread out across the sectors. The index is up around 1 percent in the first quarter.
Japan's Nikkei share average (.N225) outperformed the region, rising 1.6 percent to the highest since October 2008, helped by buying of large exporters and technology stocks.
U.S. stock futures flipped to positive as the
gained, rising 0.2 percent, after the
overnight (.
) briefly hit an 18-month high in the cash market.
The benchmark yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down 2
, to 3.86 percent.
A series of poor U.S. debt auctions this week has helped to push up the yield 17 basis points.
. The 10-year JGB yield rose to a four-month high of 1.385 percent.
U.S. crude futures rose 0.6 percent to $81 a barrel, with bulls hoping the U.S. dollar will keep correcting lower.

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Wall Street flat on Korea nerves, Oracle hurts Nasdaq (Reuters)

admin — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:41:56 +0000

NEW YORK (Reuters) –
The Dow and S&P ended flat on Friday, giving back earlier gains after the sinking of a South
naval ship, while tech shares' weakness kept the
in slightly negative territory.
Stocks initially rose after European Union leaders said they had agreed on a standby aid package for Greece, and after better-than-expected March consumer sentiment data.
.O), which fell from a nine-year high a day after reporting quarterly results that beat expectations. The stock slid 1.3 percent to $25.69, while software bellwether Microsoft (
.O) dropped 1.2 percent to $29.66.
News of the ship sinking hit sentiment, analysts said, although some analysts suggested that the incident was an excuse for investors to sell stocks in what is increasingly viewed as an overvalued market.
“Depending on what happened, this could raise global tensions, which will unnerve investors,” said Charles Lieberman, chief investment officer of Advisors Capital Management in Paramus, New Jersey.
had played down the suggestion of North Korea's involvement, but said that “investors are going to remain cautious until they know what happened for sure.”
(.DJI) rose 9.15 points, or 0.08 percent, to end at 10,850.36.
& Poor's 500 Index (.
) inched up just 0.86 point, or 0.07 percent, to 1,166.59. But the
(.IXIC) slipped2.28 points, or 0.10 percent, to close at 2,395.13.
would receive coordinated bilateral loans from other euro-zone countries and the International Monetary Fund if it faced severe difficulties.
dealing with the problem, which has weighed on equities in recent weeks.
Earlier on Friday, the Commerce Department said gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 5.6 percent in the fourth quarter, instead of 5.9 percent, as it previously estimated and as analysts had been expecting.
Separately, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers
came in at a final March reading of 73.6, above expectations, but unchanged from February.
.N), up 0.9 percent at $74.43, supported the
.
.O) rose 1.9 percent to $230.90 and limited the Nasdaq's loss after
raised its price target on the stock by $25 to $300, citing strength in the tech company's iPhone unit.
.N), which gained after a report that it was exploring alternatives including a share buyback or a possible sale of the U.S. electronics retailer that could net more than $3 billion. The stock jumped 8.5 percent to $23.65.
About 8.61 billion shares traded on the
, the
, below last year's estimated daily average of 9.65 billion.
There were roughly an equal number of advancers and decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, while on the Nasdaq, slightly more stocks fell than rose.

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UAE stocks seen surging if Dubai government backs debt plan (Reuters)

admin — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:15:04 +0000

, with markets poised to rally if the deal includes guarantees, analysts said.
's index has been resurgent, gaining 12.8 percent in 12 trading days, as investors bet a restructuring deal would be more favorable to creditors than once thought, but it is down 15.2 percent since November 25, the day
said it would seek a debt standstill.
The government conglomerate is trying to restructure about $26 billion in debt, while Dubai's total debt pile is estimated at around $100 billion.
“It all depends on what the restructuring entails — if Dubai World offers a seven-year rollover and full repayment, then this is already discounted in the market, but if there's a government guarantee the market will fly,” said Haissam Arabi, chief executive at Gulfmena
.
“If the offer is as expected, then banks won't have to increase provisions and so bank stocks like Emirates NBD and the
should pick up.”
are the two domestic lenders on a Dubai World creditors committee, with both stocks on the rise after slumping to multi-year lows in late January.
“Compared to other regional markets we're way behind in valuations,” said Arabi. “Companies such as Aramex are fundamentally as strong as their regional peers, but are trading at a big discount, so I think the market is ripe for the rally to continue.”
Robert McKinnon, ASAS Capital chief investment officer, was more cautious.
“I don't think there will be much of a rally, it's likely to be anticlimactic because the market has pretty much priced everything in — there has been a good amount of news flow coming out of the negotiations,” said McKinnon.
Dubai's problems have caused the emirate's index to massively underperform, rising a mere 16 percent in the past year, when the
gained 79 percent.
Dubai has also lagged other regional markets, with the Saudi benchmark rising 52 percent in 12 months. Neighboring
is up 19 percent, with many investors treating the UAE as a
.
“The market has been running on rumor and speculation, so when something official comes out, it could trigger a rally,” said Ayman el-Saheb, Darahem Financial Brokerage director of operations, adding a government guarantee would boost UAE equities further.
Even if a debt offer disappoints, stocks should be steady because it will remove some of the uncertainty over the emirate's finances.
“People want a resolution so they can start doing some fundamental analysis,” said Keith Edwards, head of asset management at Doha-based
The First Investor.
Foreign investors are likely to remain wary, with the dominant property sector continuing to struggle and a restructuring offer still not answering how Dubai will pay off its debts in the long term.
Dubai house prices are down around 60 percent from 2008 peaks and are forecast to fall another 10 percent in 2010, according to a Reuters poll.
“The property sector has such a large weighting on the market and I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel for real estate — it's going to be stagnant for quite a while,” said McKinnon.
“There is over-supply and a lot of burned investors. There are also other issues for investors to consider such as the lack of liquidity.”
Another major drag is the ongoing merger of mortgage providers Amlak and Tamweel, McKinnon said, with the two companies' shares suspended since November 2008. Little information has emerged since, although the UAE economy minister was quoted Thursday as saying that a merger would happen soon.
“The Amlak-Tamweel merger has wider implications for the market — people have been trapped in those stocks for more than a year and foreign investors are worried that could happen again,” McKinnon added.
.
in the world,” said Gulfmena's Arabi.
.

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Corrected: Dow gains on Boeing strength, S&P dips (Reuters)

admin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:53:47 +0000

rose on Thursday on Boeing's strength, while the
slipped after a round of economic data and corporate results.
Earlier in the session, the Dow climbed as high as 10,773.88 — its highest in 17 months.
showed factory activity expanded more than expected in March, although
fell. Earlier, the government said consumer prices were flat in February, backing up the Federal Reserve's commitment to keep its
ultra low for a while. A separate report showed a dip in new claims for
in the latest week.
“The data are a net positive since it reinforced the idea that the Fed won't be raising rates soon,” said Tom Nyheim, portfolio manager of Christiana Bank & Trust in Greenville, Delaware.
“What's limiting us right now is the fact that we've just been up so much lately.”
.N), up 1.7 percent at $70.54, gave the Dow its biggest boost. Boeing, on track for its highest close since June 2008, is the Dow's best-performing stock so far this year. Earlier in the session, Boeing hit a 52-week intraday high at $70.62.
(.DJI) gained 32.12 points, or 0.30 percent, to 10,765.79.
& Poor's 500 Index (.
) slipped 1.77 points, or 0.15 percent, to 1,164.44. The
(.
) rose 1.24 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,390.33.
.N) and GameStop (
.N) rallied after reporting results. Nike's stock climbed 5.3 percent to $74.63, a day after the largest global sports gear maker reported a third-quarter profit that beat expectations. GameStop shares jumped 7.7 percent to $21.39 after the video-game retailer forecast full-year sales growth of 4 percent to 6 percent.
.N) posted a sharply higher quarterly profit that beat
's estimate. Some analysts, though, had said expectations called for even stronger results.
gained 0.5 percent to $90.27. The
(.DJT), which includes FedEx, rose 0.4 percent.
.O) fell 0.4 percent to $22.16, dragging on the
. Macquarie Equities Research started coverage of the chip maker with a “neutral” rating, expecting utilization rates for the semiconductor sector to peak in the next one or two quarters.
Another pocket of strength came from the healthcare sector, with
. U.S. House Majority Leader
said momentum was growing for the legislation despite solid Republican opposition. The
U.S. House of Representatives
is on track to vote on the bill on Sunday.
“It's almost a 'buy the news' type of thing. People have been playing it from the short side, and now we've got a little more clarity and the cover is taking place today,” said Craig Miller, market maker in healthcare trading at
in Baltimore.
Healthcare Payor Index (.HMO) rose 3.2 percent.
The Dow marked a seven-day winning streak in Wednesday's session, its longest since an eight-session run in August 2009. Volume, however, has been tepid ahead of key options expirations on Thursday and Friday, when four different types of
expire in a convergence known as “quadruple witching.”

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SEC says Lehman report will be helpful (Reuters)

admin — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:18:53 +0000

, a top regulator said on Wednesday.
, testifying at a congressional hearing, provided scant details on who and what the agency is probing.
But Schapiro said the report would be “helpful to us.”
and its auditor,
, after a report found the
used accounting gimmicks before it filed for bankruptcy in September 2008.
“It is safe to assume that we are looking at the conduct of a number of firms,” Schapiro told a
without naming Lehman or Ernst & Young.
including the now defunct Bear Stearns.
Schapiro, who was not SEC chairman at the time of the investment bank's collapse, said the SEC's program to supervise investment banks was flawed from the start because it was voluntary regulation and inadequately staffed.
“We were ill suited because of our disclosure and enforcement mentality,” she said, adding that the SEC is trying to address the agency's shortcomings.
The 2,200-page report from a court-appointed examiner alleges that an accounting gimmick known as “Repo 105″ was used for the sole purpose of manipulating Lehman's books.
The examiner also said there was sufficient evidence to support a possible claim that Ernst & Young had been negligent and that Lehman could pursue claims against the firm for “professional malpractice.”
asked Schapiro if the SEC would ask large U.S. financial firms to publicly disclose their exposure to Greece, Spain and Portugal.
Greece's borrowing costs have jumped in recent months, forcing the Greek government to take tough measures to tighten its budget and seek financial aid. There are also fears that Spain and Portugal are shouldering unsustainable debt burdens, raising concerns that investors will demand higher interest rates on loans.
Schapiro said U.S. companies already have obligations to disclose material information, or information an investor needs to know in order to buy a company's stock. However, Schapiro said the SEC can look at the disclosures.
She also said the SEC now has a special unit dedicated to continuously looking at the financial statements of the largest financial firms.
, who chairs the subcommittee responsible for financial services appropriations, told the SEC it has an obligation to address the economic problems caused by the securities market.
“Too often, discussion of the SEC's responsibilities focuses narrowly on investor protection,” Serrano said at the hearing on how the SEC has been using its funds.
U.S. unemployment rate
stands at 9.7 percent and has become one of the most pressing concerns for Congress and the Obama administration.
The SEC is in charge of policing markets, protecting investors and supervising thousands of financial players such as investment advisers and broker dealers.
(Reporting by Rachelle Younglai, editing by Tim Dobbyn, Bernard Orr)

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