Senate votes to reauthorize FDA user fees, JP Morgan hires former SEC exec, and the White House unveils digital strategy, and more.
- The White House released its long-awaited digital strategy which aims to ensure agencies manage mobile devices and give citizens mobile access to government websites and survey data. See related The Regulatory Review essay.
- The Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill reauthorizing the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) user fee programs, after rejecting a contentious drug importation amendment.
- The Senate rejected competing Democratic and Republican plans for avoiding a July 1st doubling of interest rates on federal college loans for 7.4 million students.
- In federal district court, several Facebook Inc. investors alleged the company and its banking syndicate violated securities laws by inadequately disclosing information about Facebook’s prospective earnings.
- J.P. Morgan Chase reportedly hired former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement chief William McLucas to respond to the bank’s multi-billion dollar trading loss predicament.
- Germany dismissed a French-led call for euro-zone governments to issue common bonds, a day before a European Union summit at which investors met to brainstorm solutions to the debt crisis.
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took the first steps in creating a consumer protection program for prepaid cards, soliciting public feedback on whether to impose on these cards the same regulations that protect consumer checking accounts.
- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it plans to propose a rule clarifying that Clean Water Act permits are not needed for logging roads as they are for factories and other point sources of pollution.