Research: Regulation

Proposed U.S. Legislation on Financial Regulatory Reform

The global economic collapse has stimulated extraordinary activity in the U.S. Congress as legislators try to prevent a recurrence of the 2008 meltdown. Scores of bills have been introduced in Congress, a few have passed and several sweeping reforms are approaching floor debate. Concurrently with this legislative activity, Congress has heard testimony from business leaders, academics, and many of the nation’s top regulators.  BCLB has compiled links to the testimony and pending legislation and prepared summaries of many of the presentations to Congress. This material is available at the following link:

Financial Oversight Proposed Legislation
Financial Oversight Congressional Testimony

This legislation would establish commissions and oversight boards to study and regulate various sectors of the economy including financial products, financial regulators, credit markets, and financial institutions.

Systemic Risk Proposed Legislation
Systemic Risk Congressional Testimony

This legislation addresses regulatory schemes to better guard against and monitor for risk to the financial system, prevent fraudulent practices, and improved oversight in such areas as derivatives trading.  The legislation proposes to create new independent agencies to review the rules and actions of financial regulators and assess new financial products.  The related testimony also highlights how monetary policy, companies deemed to-big-to-fail, insurance practices, and compensation structures all contribute to systemic risk.

Derivatives Proposed Legislation
Derivatives Congressional Testimony

This legislation provides for the regulation of derivatives, swaps, security-based swaps, traders, and clearing organizations.  This legislation directs the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Securities & Exchange Commission, and other regulators to monitor and impose rules regarding the centralized clearing of derivatives on registered exchanges.

Securities and SEC Proposed Legislation
Securities and SEC Congressional Testimony

This legislation looks at different methods of modifying and enhancing the powers of the Securities & Exchange Commission regarding a range of financial issues including investor protection, fraud prevention, and rules of accounting.

Hedge Funds Proposed Legislation
Hedge Funds Congressional Testimony

This legislation proposes enhancement to the regulatory structure imposed on hedge funds and hedge fund managers.  This legislation mainly addresses Securities & Exchange Commission registration requirements for various fund categories.

Federal Reserve Proposed Legislation
Federal Reserve Congressional Testimony

This legislation seeks to either abolish the Federal Reserve or alternatively to substantially change how the Federal Reserved is audited by the federal government.

Financial/Economic Recovery Proposed Legislation
Financial/Economic Recovery Congressional Testimony

This legislation focuses on changes designed to increase the stability of financial markets and in turn protect investors and consumers.  Some of the mechanisms offered to achieve this objective include improving access to credit, providing additional capital for financial stabilization, and making permanent the increase in deposit insurance coverage.

TARP Proposed Legislation
TARP Congressional Testimony

This section deals with the Troubled Asset Relief Program, a $700 billion fund established in 2008 to allow the federal government to purchase or insure troubled assets from financial institutions.  The testimony and legislative proposals presented here reflect a wide range of opinions on whether TARP should be reformed, continued, or eliminated.

Mortgage/Housing Proposed Legislation
Mortgage/Housing Congressional Testimony

This legislation pertains to lending standards for mortgages and government-sponsored enterprises.  The related testimony addresses issues relevant to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and homeownership.

Credit Cards Proposed Legislation
Credit Cards Congressional Testimony

This legislation and related testimony addresses accountability standards for credit card company practices and consumer protection issues, such as fees, underage cardholder rights, and interest rates for credit cards.

Executive Compensation Legislation
Executive Compensation Congressional Testimony

This legislation proposes to deal with how compensation for company executives should be determined.  The testimony and proposed legislation reflects opinions on shareholder rights to determine executive compensation, whether caps for compensation should be instituted, and how to curb executive abuses.

Credit Ratings Proposed Legislation
Credit Ratings Congressional Testimony

The legislation and related testimony include proposals to monitor and regulate credit ratings agencies to increase their transparency, responsibility, and accuracy.

Consumer Protection Legislation
Consumer Protection Congressional Testimony

This legislative and related testimony reflects various ideas on how to protect consumers from abuses from the financial industry.  The proposals and opinions address whether a Consumer Financial Protection Agency should be established and how to best regulate the financial industry to ensure that consumers are treated fairly.  The proposals address consumer protection issues such as deceptive transactions, agreement terms and fees, and provision of standard products.

Insurance Legislation
Insurance Congressional Testimony

This legislation is directed at the insurance industry which has been primarily state regulated. The related testimony expresses various opinions on whether insurance should be regulated at a national or state level, how to manage specific insurance products, and whether an Office of Insurance Information should be established.

Other Legislation

This section contains miscellaneous legislative proposals that deal with issues arising in the financial system such as speculation and financial literacy.