Financial Reform – that was efficient legislating

“Congress passes financial reform bill

By Brady Dennis

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 16, 2010

Congress gave final approval Thursday to the most ambitious overhaul of financial regulation in generations, ending more than a year of wrangling over the shape of the new rules and shifting the government's focus to the monumental task of implementing them.

The final Senate vote, which came almost two years after the nation's financial system nearly collapsed, was a significant legislative victory for President Obama, who had pledged to rein in the reckless Wall Street behavior behind the crisis and to right the government regulation that failed to prevent it.

The massive bill establishes an independent consumer bureau within the Federal Reserve to protect borrowers against abuses in mortgage, credit card and some other types of lending. The legislation also gives the government new power to seize and shut down large, troubled financial companies -- like the failed investment bank Lehman Brothers -- and sets up a council of federal regulators to watch for threats to the financial system.

Under the new rules, the vast market for derivatives, complex financial instruments that helped fuel the crisis, will be subject to government oversight. Shareholders, meanwhile, will gain more say on how corporate executives are paid.”