Regulations

October 15, 2009

Washington, D.C. – Rep. Brad Miller (NC-D) and Rep. Dennis Moore (KS-D) filed an amendment to the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) bill today designed to generate broader support among Democrats for the financial regulation reform bill proposed to crackdown on lending practices that led to the current economic crisis.

The amendment allows banks with less than $10 billion in assets and credit unions with less than $1.5 billion in assets to be exempt from examination by a new CFPA agency in addition to federal bank regulators. The CFPA would remain the primary examiner for consumer protection rules for 150 banks with more than $10 billion in assets.    » read more »

Agencies Unite on Outreach to Produce Industry

WASHINGTON, October 5, 2009 -- USDA's fresh produce chief will join FDA to develop new food safety rules, as part of a cooperative initiative between FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Today's announcement comes amid beefed up outreach efforts with key agriculture and safe food stakeholders to better share and exchange produce safety "best practices" and ideas.    » read more »

New AARP Survey Shows Support For Increased Consumer Protections in Financial Industry

September 14, 2009 -- Washington, DC – AARP Executive Vice President, Nancy LeaMond released the following statement in response to President Obama’s speech today on Wall Street:

“Older Americans saw their retirement savings decimated by the economic crisis. AARP has long maintained that consumers must be armed with as much information as possible so that they can make sound financial decisions. In a world where individuals must plan for their own financial futures, information is imperative and greater protections are needed in the marketplace.    » read more »

September 14, 2009 -- Washington, DC--Today, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) released the statement of Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger on the anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse. Said Burger:

"When Lehman Brothers fell, they took not just the rest of Wall Street, but all of Main Street, down with them. Yet, one year later, the greedy CEOs who caused the collapse are unremorseful, unrepentant, and virtually unchanged.

"You'd think that the collapse of over 90 banks in one year alone would be a powerful 'lesson learned' for the titans at big financial houses, but on Wall Street, it's back to 'business as usual.'    » read more »

In response to Kaufman’s letter, SEC Chairman says agency will undertake broader review

September 14, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC - On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the bankruptcy that sent shock waves down Wall Street and throughout the country, Senator Ted Kaufman (D-DE) will deliver a speech highlighting the failure to enact comprehensive financial regulatory reform in the 365 days since the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

He will also detail the critical need for the nation's financial regulatory agencies to adopt a forward-looking approach to regulation - one that recognizes manipulation and wrongdoing before it metastasizes and leads to systemic failures or seriously undermines market credibility, fairness and investor confidence.    » read more »

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 15 -- Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Ken Lewis issued the following comments regarding President Barack Obama's September 14 speech regarding financial regulatory reform.

"A year ago this week, the U.S. economy was on the brink of disaster. Large and important financial institutions were failing, as was confidence in our financial system. Clearly, the actions taken by the federal government, in the previous and current administrations, effectively stabilized our financial system.    » read more »

June 20, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Barack Obama explained the necessity of his proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency. It is clear that one of the major causes of the current economic crisis was a breakdown of oversight leading to widespread abuses in the financial world.

The Consumer Financial Protection Agency will have the sole job of looking out for the financial interests of ordinary Americans by banning unfair practices and enforcing the rules. This is the type of reform that will attack the causes of the current crisis and prevent further crises from taking place.

The audio and video will be available at 6:00am Saturday, June 20, 2009 at www.whitehouse.gov.

Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address    » read more »

Senators Advocate for an effective system of financial oversight

June 19, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., and Ranking Member Susan Collins, R-Me., Friday sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner expressing their support for a more effective system of financial oversight that will eliminate overlap, duplication, and increase accountability.

The Committee has held a series of hearings examining what led to last year's financial crisis and how to prevent a similar crisis from occurring in the future. The Senators expressed their support for restructuring the fragmented financial regulatory system, in addition to strengthening financial regulations, as the Administration has proposed.    » read more »

June 18, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today attended a U.S. Senate Banking Hearing entitled “The Administration's Proposal to Modernize the Financial Regulatory System." In response, Brown issued the following statement:

Let me say at the outset that I agree with the president that we must reform our nation’s financial regulatory system. Why? All you have to do is pick up a paper or turn on the television to learn about homes being lost, Americans losing their jobs because businesses can’t get access to credit, and banks being shuttered.

I believe that one of our nation’s forefathers, James Madison, said it best when he wrote that “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”    » read more »

Jun 17 2009 - New York -- Today Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) was pleased to pay back the $10 billion in TARP money to the U.S. Treasury.

Morgan Stanley and its employees appreciate the support of the U.S. government, Congress and the Administration during this challenging period.

We also welcome and support the regulatory reforms proposed by the Obama Administration as we continue to work with the Administration and Congress to ensure safety and soundness in the banking system and the strength and stability of our overall financial system.

Source: Morgan Stanley

June 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – President Obama will lay out a comprehensive regulatory reform plan this afternoon to modernize and protect the integrity of our financial system. While this crisis has had many causes, it is clear now that the government could have done more to prevent these problems from growing out of control and threatening our overall economy.

The President will be joined by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, representatives from the regulatory community, consumer groups, the financial industry and members of Congress for an event in the East Room later this afternoon.

The President’s plan will:

* Require that all financial firms that pose a significant risk to the financial system at large are subjected to strong consolidated supervision and regulation    » read more »

June 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Today, after attending President Barack Obama’s speech at the White House on financial regulatory reform, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Chairman of the Banking Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment, issued the following statement:

“The financial crisis exposed serious pitfalls and cracks in our financial regulatory system. Today, the President offered a solid plan to begin to fill in those gaps, reform the system, and strengthen our economy.

“We need comprehensive regulation of financial institutions and robust supervision and rules that give regulators “teeth” to hold firms accountable. The Administration’s proposal offers stronger protection and increased transparency for consumers, investors, and businesses.    » read more »

June 16, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC -- In an effort to strengthen financial oversight of hedge funds and other private investment funds, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), today introduced the Private Fund Transparency Act of 2009, which will help protect investors, identify and mitigate systemic risk, and prevent fraud. This legislation amends the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to require advisers to hedge funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, and other private investment pools to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).    » read more »

June 17, 2009 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) applauded President Obama’s efforts to give regulators more teeth as he proposes the largest regulatory overhaul since the Great Depression. President Obama, his economic team and the Treasury Department today announced its proposal for financial regulatory reform to address the lack of regulatory oversight demonstrated at the start of the current economic crisis.

As we all know, federal regulators were forced to make decisions with few good options last year based on the belief that weakened financial firms were so big and so interconnected that their failure would devastate the world economy.    » read more »

Pledges to Work with White House to Prevent Wall Street Lobby From Weakening Long Overdue Reforms

June 17,2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) today applauded President Barack Obama for his focus on the urgent need for financial regulatory reform and for taking a leadership role in putting together a comprehensive reform package. Cantwell has worked closely with the President’s economic team on her top reform priority: regulating the derivatives markets that spun out of control last year and greatly worsened the severity of the recession.    » read more »