I agree Paulson was a poor choice- he's an insider with too many previous ties and relationships/loyalties whereas FDR appointed Joseph Kennedy to head the SEC because Joe had already learned the tricks of the market. How about Paul Krugman? He just won the Nobel for Economics.
On Oct 13, 7:20 am, "\"Lone Wolf\"" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > In 2004, at the request of the major Wall Street investment houses, > including Goldman Sachs, then headed by Henry Paulson, the U.S. > Securities and Exchange Commission agreed unanimously to release the > major investment houses from the net capital rule, the requirement > that their brokerages hold reserve capital that limited their leverage > and risk exposure. The complaint that was put forth by the investment > banks was of increasingly onerous regulatory requirements -- in this > case, not U.S. regulator oversight, but European Union regulation of > the foreign operations of US investment groups. In the immediate lead- > up to the decision, EU regulators also acceded to US pressure, and > agreed not to scrutinize foreign firms' reserve holdings if the SEC > agreed to do so instead. The 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, however, put > the parent holding company of each of the big American brokerages > beyond SEC oversight. In order for the agreement to go ahead, the > investment banks lobbied for a decision that would allow "voluntary" > inspection of their parent and subsidiary holdings by the SEC. > > During this repeal of the net capital rule, SEC Chairman William H. > Donaldson agreed to the establishment of a risk management office that > would monitor signs of future problems. This office was eventually > dismantled by Chairman Christopher Cox, after discussions with > Paulson. According to the New York Times, "While other financial > regulatory agencies criticized a blueprint by Mr. Paulson, the [new] > Treasury secretary, that proposed to reduce their stature — and that > of the S.E.C. — Mr. Cox did not challenge the plan, leaving it to > three former Democratic and Republican commission chairmen to complain > that the blueprint would neuter the agency."[11] > > In late September 2008, Chairman Cox and the other Commissioners > agreed to end the 2004 program of voluntary regulation. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
