Financial Regulation Reform: 16 Key Studies and Analyses

heritage.org ^ | 4/2/10 | James Gattuso

[Nachum]

The 1,334-page financial markets bill now pending in the Senate would implement a vast array of changes in the way banks and other financial institutions are regulated. Issues range from how best to protect consumers to how to liquidate failing firms to what rules to apply to complex financial instruments.

These issues tend to be as complex as they are critical to the future of the U.S. economy. The good news is that there is a wealth of expert analysis on the key issues. Here are 16 of the best.

Consumer Protection

The Senate bill would create a new financial consumer protection agency within the Federal Reserve with independent powers to regulate consumer finance. The financial crisis, however, had nothing to do with a lack of consumer protection. New consumer rules would instead simply reduce consumer choices while undermining regulatory efforts to ensure financial soundness.

1. How to Protect Consumers in the Financial Marketplace: An Alternate Approach

[K-oneTexas]

Steps needed at the Cabinet level, giving them a specific purpose and a clear mission:

1) Abolish the FED. Totally and completely.

2) Abolish the Department of Education. Belongs with the States, and the Dep’t of Ed truthfully educates no one.

3) Smaller Dep’t of the Interior - by release all federal lands back to the States with the exception of National Parks.

4) Dep’t of Health should have Medicare, Medicaid (if we actually can keep them and sustain them) and the Surgeon General, public health & medical research (CDC and such) at the federal level.

5) Put ALL welfare programs under Dep’t of Welfare to downgrade duplication and multiple funds being disbursed to numerous agencies.

6) Create a Sunset Commission to backstop Congress and review ALL laws and force repeal of outmoded, outdated and duplicative statutes.

7) Close Import/Export Bank, Overseas private Investment Corp to name a few independent agencies (including funding).

8) Shut down US participation in the UN, World Court, WTO and other international treaty organizations (including funding).

We should end up with (roughly): Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce & Labor (incl Nat’l Labor relations Board), Natural Resources, Justice, VA, Treasury and Interior.

If we need to oversee the financial markets that may best be done with a small commission and it could take ALL financial matters. Including those of the Securities & Exchange Commission, Commodities Futures Trading Commission and the like.

Just an idea or two to start. No additional commissions or agencies are needed. Already too much duplication of effort and excessive spending.

[ridesthemiles]

NObama wants legislation concerning homeowners mortgages which will MANDATE that the lender REDUCE the principal amount of the mortgage to an amount the homeowner can make payments on.
This could be as much as 50% of the amount of the mortgage balance left in place, which shows on the bank balance sheet as a Loan Receivable. Remove some of that value, and the Liabilities are higher than the Assets.

Hence, the bank is technically insolvent, driven there my NObama & Congress.

IF this passes Congress, MANDATING that a lender reduce such a balance will upset the financial regulations that are both state & federal in nature.

This puts the bank into a position of financial failure, and another series of ‘takeovers’ by other banks.

Sooner or later, there will be no more ‘other banks’ left to take over the toxic assets created by such a MANDATE.

NObama destroys more of the USA.