Major Regulatory Change is on the Horizon

The much anticipated regulatory reform proposal from the new Obama administration is nearing completion according to a report today in the Wall Street Journal.  The aim of the proposal is to streamline the byzantine regulatory framework within which U.S. financial institutions have been operating for many decades.  Here is what the WSJ had to say.

Top Obama administration officials are close to recommending that Congress create a single regulator to oversee the entire banking sector, people familiar with the matter said, a departure from the hodgepodge of federal agencies that failed to contain the financial crisis as it ballooned out of control last year.

The new agency is expected to be a major plank in a proposal that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House officials send Capitol Hill in a few weeks with the goal of overhauling supervision of financial markets.

The new bank regulatory agency could prove controversial because it would consolidate the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision and strip supervisory powers from the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The Fed and the FDIC would gain other powers, though, as White House officials want the Fed to be able to oversee systemic risks in the economy. They also want the FDIC to have new powers to take large financial companies that aren't banks into receivership.

While the outcome of the proposal is far from certain, one thing is certain - major regulatory change is on the horizon. Is your company prepared to manage this change?  Wheelhouse Advisors can help.  Visit www.WheelhouseAdvisors.com to learn more.