Obama Vows 'Light Touch' in Bank Regulation

Changes will be the most ambitious since the Great Depression

(NEWSER) - President Obama will unveil next week sweeping new changes to the nation’s governance of troubled financial institutions, the AP reports. Unlike Washington’s temporary ownership stake in automakers and major financial companies, the new regulatory protocol will be permanent and will present the most ambitious revision since the 1930s. Most likely to benefit from the changes will be the Federal Reserve. More»

New agency would replace hodgepodge of regulators blamed for financial crisis

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration is working on plans to create a single agency to do the work of the mishmash of regulators who failed to see the financial crisis coming, the Wall Street Journal reports. The new agency, which may be proposed to Congress next month, would strip powers from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Federal Reserve. The Fed would gain new powers to guard against systemic risks. More»

(NEWSER) - Tim Geithner today proposed a major expansion of federal regulatory powers, reports the Washington Post. In testimony before Congress, the Treasury chief called for hedge funds, derivatives markets, private equity firms, and major insurers like AIG to be brought under strict federal supervision for the first time. His plan, which requires congressional approval, would reverse decades of deregulation. More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama visited Wall Street’s historic Federal Hall today, on the anniversary of Lehman Brothers' collapse, to make the case for the financial regulatory reforms wending their way through Congress. He spoke of the need for “strong rules of the road” for the financial system. “History cannot be allowed to repeat itself,” he said, calling the effort “the most ambitious overhaul of the financial regulatory system since the Great Depression.” More»

(NEWSER) - The heat is apparently getting to Tim Geithner. At a meeting last week with high-level financial regulators, the treasury secretary indulged in a potty-mouthed diatribe about delays in the administration's highly touted plan to overhaul the regulatory system, declaring, "enough is enough," the Wall Street Journal reports. Attendees included Ben Bernanke, FDIC chair Sheila Bair, and SEC chair Mary Schapiro. More»