Volume 9, No 1. Winter 2010
Morrison & Foerster Quarterly News
Financial Services Report
Editor’s Note
Tis the season to be thankful, and we are. Take Call of Duty: Black Ops, for
one. There is something deeply gratifying about reliving awkward moments
of American history and getting a do-over. Nothing wreaks havoc quite like
a crossbow with exploding bolts. Or the TSA, for another, which proved this
quarter that no matter how good your organization’s knack for drawing bad
PR, the TSA’s “airport scanner fiasco” marks a new reading on the depth
gauge. And finally, there’s November’s election, which was like watching
airbags inflate in slow motion. Procrastinators who delayed committing to
memory the 2,319 pages of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer
Protection Act can rejoice. The rest of us can look forward to figuring it out all
over again, after the new Congress gets its own do-over, with exploding bolts.
Connoisseurs of transition will recognize the opportunity of that last
sentence to segue into this issue’s themes. The transformation of the
financial industry continues, from comb-overs to makeovers, pompadours
to buzz cuts. All of that gets reported in these pages, with a dash or two of
sarcasm; it’s on the house.
For our Dodd-Frank Act overview, various User Guides, and our shorter Client
Alerts, visit our regulatory reform website at: http://www.mofo.com/resources/
regulatory-reform/.
Until next time, watch your deficits, dog-ear your earmarks, and have a
wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year.
William Stern, Editor-in-chief
IN THIS ISSUE
2Beltway Report
5Operations Report
5Plastic (a/k/a Card Report)
6Mortgage Report
7Privacy Report
10 Arbitration Report
10 Preemption Report
MoFo Metrics
230: World’s longest enchilada,
in feet
2: Videos served each day by
YouTube, in billions
7: World population, in billions
10: Number of cars Toyota
recalled in 2010, in millions
23: Percentage of men who
don’t wash hands after
visiting restroom
7: Same percentage, women
59: Life expectancy worldwide,
1970
70: Life expectancy worldwide,
2010
©2010 Morrison & Foerster LLP
Regulation & Innovation—
yin and yang?
Absolutely. Both are needed—maybe now more than ever. Regulation brings with it
the ability to promote innovation. Morrison & Foerster established the Regulatory
Innovation Award through The Burton Foundation to honor an academic or public
ofcial whose innovative ideas have made a signicant contribution to the discourse
on regulatory reform in the arena of corporate governance, securities, capital markets
or nancial institutions.
We are counted on for business-minded solutions. We’ve built our reputation on the
artful balance of practical solutions and innovative ideas. Innovative thinking is central
to what we do and how we do it.
Nominations are open from October 27, 2010 to February 18, 2011.
Visit us at regulatoryinnovationaward.com.
