WashingtonThe American Bar Association (ABA) is locked in a high stakes game of brinkmanship that looks set to determine whether market regulators will push through controversial proposals forcing US lawyers to whistle-blow on their clients.

The row, which centres on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) ‘noisy withdrawal’ proposals, is pitting the ABA against the powerful regulator with senior lawyers pointing to a key vote at the ABA’s annual conference on 12 August.