Government Proposes New Financial Regulations

The Obama administration recently unleashed a proposal to provide stronger regulation of the financial industry. This proposal was introduced one week ago in a Washington Post op-ed piece by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers. The proposal is also discussed in this White House press release.

The plan would require new standards for, and supervision of, U.S. financial institutions. These changes would include granting new supervisory powers to the Federal Reserve, increasing regulation of securities markets, and creating a new Consumer Financial Protections Agency. The full Treasury Department report, Financial Regulatory Reform: A New Foundation, describes all details of the new proposal. You can also find a more condensed version of the proposal in the Executive Summary.

Other online documents about the regulatory proposal include the following fact sheets:

• Requiring Strong Supervision and Regulation of All Financial Firms
• Strengthening Regulation of Core Markets and Market Infrastructure
• Strengthening Consumer Protection
• Providing the Government with Tools to Effectively Manage Financial Crisis
• Improving International Regulatory Standards and Cooperation

For more resources, see our guides to the economic crisis and banking.