Streamlining Regulatory Oversight

Chairman Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve Board spoke yesterday to the Council on Foreign Relations about his strategic view of regulatory reform.  His comments were focused on managing risk at the macro level, but still ring true for companies on a micro level as well.  He stated the following,

"We must have a strategy that regulates the financial system as a whole, in a holistic way, not just at its individual components.  In particular, strong and effective regulation and supervision of banking institutions, although necessary for reducing systemic risk, are not sufficient by themselves to achieve this aim. "

His view sounds very similar to the aims of enterprise risk management underway at many corporations today. Much like risk and compliance processes must be streamlined in companies, the Federal government must streamline its hodge-podge approach to regulating our financial system.