The Fed is About To Sieze Wall Street
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Upcoming Treasury Department proposals to make the Federal Reserve the chief regulator of U.S. financial markets and give it sweeping new powers won praise on Saturday from the central bank and the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is expected to unveil a blueprint on Monday for fixing gaps in the U.S. financial market regulatory structure that have been exposed by the ongoing subprime mortgage crisis.
And, about that Plunge Protection Team:
The report breaks down its proposals into short-, intermediate- and long-term recommendations. Under short-term suggestions, Treasury proposes turning the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets, which has advised the president since 1987, into a government-chartered “interagency body” to coordinate financial regulatory policy.
The group’s focus should be “broadened to include the entire financial sector, rather than solely financial markets,” the draft said. The President’s Working Group is chaired by the Treasury Secretary and includes the heads of the Fed, the SEC and the CFTC. The report recommends expanding the body to include the heads of the OCC, the FDIC, and the OTS.
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