Thursday, July 19, 2012

Happy 2nd Birthday, Dodd-Frank

A year ago, give or take a couple of days, former FT Alphavillian John McDermott asked the question: is it worth giving a one year-old a birthday present?
Davis Polk clearly thinks so — another year has passed and the law firm has a birthday present for the now two-year old Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Holding itself out as a maker of infographics, this gem was offered up, excerpts of which are below.
Now, Davis Polk could have used the “we’re actually a law firm” exception, available for companies that have better things to do, but it chose not to do that.
Since the infographic is financial in nature and is also rectangular, Davis Polk has reported its existence to both the Complex Financial Terms Commission and Sharp Edges Control.
Due to its ongoing dominance of reporting on the progress of Dodd-Frank, Davis Polk may join the likes of Scotty Barber on the list of Systemically Important Finance Illustrators.
However, in order to continue with this work, Davis Polk, especially if designated as a SIFI, must demonstrate to regulators that such infographics are correlated with the firm’s legal work. Furthermore, it is forbidden from basing the compensation of its illustrators on the value, in marketing terms, of said graphics.

Read more: http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2012/07/18/1088201/happy-2nd-birthday-dodd-frank/

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