Post by soonerlew on Mar 30, 2008 18:53:02 GMT -5
Most sweeping changes since Great Depression
Proposal will give the Federal Reserve new regulatory power
According to a 22-page executive summary obtained by The Associated Press, the Paulson plan envisions a three-stage process that would lead to establishing three main regulatory agencies.
The Fed would sit at the top with expanded responsibilities as the “market stability regulator.” But the Fed would lose its current powers over bank holding companies.
The proposal would combine the five agencies now responsible for regulating banks, thrifts and credit unions into a single regulatory agency.
The powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission would go into a super agency responsible for business conduct and consumer protection.
Some in the financial industry are concerned that Congress could rush to legislate. They make the comparison to the Sarbanes-Oxley law, passed in 2002 four months after it was introduced in response to the accounting scandals at Enron and other large companies. That effort produced some unintended consequences that, the industry believes, has hurt the global competitiveness of American companies.
“These are phenomenally complex issues and a thoughtful and deliberative approach is what is needed,” Rob Nichols, president of the Financial Services Forum, said in an interview Sunday.
The administration’s proposals got a mixed reaction on Capitol Hill.
The chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Sen. Christopher Dodd, said in a statement the recommendations deserved careful consideration. But the Connecticut Democrat said he believed they “would do little if anything to alleviate the current crisis.”
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., said Paulson’s plan was a “very constructive step forward.”
For the full article here is the link....
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23853415/
Proposal will give the Federal Reserve new regulatory power
According to a 22-page executive summary obtained by The Associated Press, the Paulson plan envisions a three-stage process that would lead to establishing three main regulatory agencies.
The Fed would sit at the top with expanded responsibilities as the “market stability regulator.” But the Fed would lose its current powers over bank holding companies.
The proposal would combine the five agencies now responsible for regulating banks, thrifts and credit unions into a single regulatory agency.
The powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission would go into a super agency responsible for business conduct and consumer protection.
Some in the financial industry are concerned that Congress could rush to legislate. They make the comparison to the Sarbanes-Oxley law, passed in 2002 four months after it was introduced in response to the accounting scandals at Enron and other large companies. That effort produced some unintended consequences that, the industry believes, has hurt the global competitiveness of American companies.
“These are phenomenally complex issues and a thoughtful and deliberative approach is what is needed,” Rob Nichols, president of the Financial Services Forum, said in an interview Sunday.
The administration’s proposals got a mixed reaction on Capitol Hill.
The chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Sen. Christopher Dodd, said in a statement the recommendations deserved careful consideration. But the Connecticut Democrat said he believed they “would do little if anything to alleviate the current crisis.”
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., said Paulson’s plan was a “very constructive step forward.”
For the full article here is the link....
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23853415/