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®: CRE Regulatory Action of the Week
Treasury Secretary Announces Financial Regulatory Reform Plan
On March 31, 2008, Department of Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson formally announced The Department of the Treasury Blueprint for a Modernized Financial Regulatory Structure. Secretary Paulson’s speech emphasized that the announced regulatory reforms are not intended to respond to the current credit crunch and financial institution turmoil, and that many of the proposed regulatory reforms won’t be implemented until after the present market difficulties are past.
The new regulatory reform plan includes the following elements:
- Establish the President's Working Group on Financial Markets as an inter-agency coordinator for issues including systemic risk, market integrity, consumer protection and capital markets competitiveness.
- Create a federal Mortgage Oversight Commission to monitor and upgrade state regulation of mortgage brokers.
- The Federal Reserve gathers information from investment banks through on-site examinations and other means to assess non-bank as well as bank funding and liquidity.
- Make the Fed's lending process to non-banks "calibrated and transparent".
Overall, the regulatory reform plan significantly expands the Fed’s oversight powers as a "Market Stability Regulator".
Click here to read Secretary Paulson’s speech
Click here to read the Treasury Department’s Fact Sheet on the reform plan
Click here to read the reform plan
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