Financial Regulatory Reform

Harvey Goldschmid, a former commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, today declared that the financial crisis unfolded in part because large sections of the industry were unregulated, while other parts were simply badly regulated, typically by overlapping agencies.

There are a number of hearings scheduled in Congress this week that could have an impact on financial regulatory reform. First, the House Financial Services Committee is holding a hearing tomorrow on "Capital Markets Regulatory Reform: Strengthening Investor Protection, Enhancing Oversight of Private Pools of Capital, and Creating a National Insurance Office”.

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner is testifying today before the House Financial Services Committee on the issue of financial regulatory reform. It is not clear if the opportunity still exists for significant changes, but Geithner is clearly setting forth the Obama Administration’s views. 

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that they will hold joint meetings to seek input from the public on harmonization of market regulation. The first meeting, on September 2, 2009, will be held at the CFTC, and the second meeting, on September 3, 2009, will be held at the SEC.