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Financial Crisis

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Submitted By ej5f2
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Economic Research Paper
April 18, 2010

After two years after the financial crisis of 2008, the Congress is ready to step up and start implanting a new plan. The Senate Banking Chairman, Christopher Dodd, released the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 on March 15th 2010. This bill includes the revisions to the bill Dobb presented to the Senate in November of 2009. Some of the bill was improvements to The “Schumer Bill”, The Shareholder Bill of Rights, which was proposed by Senator Charles Schumer. Some things that The Shareholder Bill of Rights highlights is that the bill would put executive compensation into effect, shareholders will have the opportunity to reelect every single board member at the table, instilling independent directors to oversee each company's risk management practices are just some of the highlights. One of the differences is that the Dodd Bill leaves out things that should be left to state regulation rather than United States Regulation. The American Financial Stability Act of 2010 will create a new agency just for financial products and services, it will transform the derivatives markets that will make our economy come out of the crisis and more stable for the years to come.

Some thought that the reason why Dodd released the bill when he did was to cause a debate with the Republicans in the Senate. Dodd, who is a Democrat, which caused many Republications, opposed the new bill. As of April 18, 2010, every single Republican is planning on filibuster the bill. This means that the Republicans are going to have to either redo the bill or open an amendment progress. Republicans also think that the bill will just encourage taxpayer bailout of big banks, and that it will only make the financial crisis worse. AFR also has some concerns and thoughts about the bill. This is what AFR thinks: “While we appreciate Chairman Dodd’s work, we remain concerned about aspects of the bill and believe that it must be strengthened as it moves through the legislative process. One of our key concerns is the independence of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). A strong and independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency must be the cornerstone of any meaningful reform. We believe the best way to structure a strong and independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency is through a stand alone agency, and we are troubled by the provisions that allow Consumer Financial Protection Agency decisions to be appealed to a council dominated by institutions that failed consumers in the past, and by holes in its enforcement authority. Derivatives, and other elements of the shadow markets must be clearly and effectively regulated, without exceptions or loopholes that undermine these rules, and we must put real measures in place to take on the menace of ‘too big too fail’ banks playing heads they win tails we lose games with our economy.”
Dodd thought that one thing that the Republican party would be in favor is that changing the Financial Protection Agency to an independent agency. Both the Democrat and Republican Party are going to have to come up with a mutual conclusion onto how to handle the financial crisis. The fact is something has to be done, the financial crisis, most likely, will not recover on its own. “As Barack Obama’s administration turns its attention to financial-market regulation from health care, investors would do well to remember the last time the government gave us “the most far-reaching reforms of American business practices since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt” as then-President George W. Bush said in 2002.” The government has been making rules and regulations throughout financial periods; however, Wall Street keeps finding a way to go around them. There is no reason to believe that it will be different this time. An example of this would be the Mernie Madoff case, who was closely regulate by the SEC, but still some how stealing millions of dollars from investors. Chairman, Robert Story, supports the bill in the regulatory structure for mortgage banking firms, but says that the bill is lacking two key elements, uniform national regulation and risk retention in the real estate financial industry. In his quote: "This version of the bill does move away from the ‘one size fits all’ approach to risk retention by recognizing that certain underwriting requirements, loan types and business models are inherently low risk, and we also are pleased that the bill is cognizant of the impact of onerous risk retention requirements on the availability and cost of credit. However, we believe the bill needs to be more explicit requiring regulators to provide specific exemptions for carefully underwritten, low-risk residential mortgages."

One section of this act is, Transparency and Accountability for Exotic Instrument. This section closes up loopholes for different financial instruments. Hedge funds, for example, now are going to have to register with the SEC as investment advisors. Hedge funds are known to be high risk that involves a great deal of money in the funds. In The Investment Company act of 1940 it states that hedge funds with fewer that 100 clients do not need to keep up with the regulations with the SEC, which might change in this new act. This act also creates a new office to monitor the insurance industry. Under this section is where it is going to help prevent taxpayers against bailouts, which have been a huge issue in the past years. Payday lenders and other non bank financial companies, might now have rules written under the new agency. “Consumer advocates said that writing rules without the inherent power to enforce them would leave the agency toothless” (Bennett). Payday lenders are the second most vital industry in the economy after banks, fighting off the efforts of the federal regulation. Last year, the consumer protection agency was created, which guarded excess lending. This was the first step in regulating the industry. “In 2006, Congress adopted a bill championed by Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, to cap at 36 percent the annual percentage rate on loans to active-duty members of the military and their families, a step that primarily affected payday lenders. In 2008 and 2009, Mr. Durbin proposed extending that cap to loans to all borrowers” (Bennett). Advance American of Spartanburg, the nation’s largest payday lender, said with a 36 percent A.P.R it would eliminate some of their services and limit their current operations. However, some groups are in favor of this regulation saying that the restriction will prevent abusive, deceptive and unfair practices.

SEC and the CFTC have the authority to regulate over-the counter derivatives to help reduce excessive risk-taking. The reason why over-the counter derivatives are different from other derivatives is that transaction directly negotiates between two parties rather than through an exchange (swap, a forward rate agreement, or an exotic option). The two parties make a future price not the current market price. The act is going to set higher capital requirements so that dealers on responsibility for the risk they take in the derivatives market and not the taxpayers. Also, it will set specific margin requirements for bilateral transactions. Dealers are going to be required to post all uncleared transactions to clearinghouse so that regulators have access to all information. Clearinghouses have were developed back in the late 19th century, and stayed active during both good and rough times. They function as a middleman between two parties and they guarantee the obligations of the transaction. Therefore, the United States will not be able to recover from this crisis if we do not achieve public market transparency. Alone with that, it is saying that change is needed because over-the-counter derivatives market has exploded– from $91 trillion in 1998 to $592 trillion in 2008. Some people are concerned about the ability of companies to make good on these contracts and the lack of transparency about what risks existed caused credit markets to freeze in this financial crisis. Investors were afraid to trade as Bear Stearns, AIG, and Lehman Brothers and other financial services failed because any new transaction could expose them to more risk.

After reading both sides of The Financial Stability Act of 2010, I feel like this is an active step in transforming the economy. We are in a very low point and anything towards the United States getting out of this recession is a good thing. Some industries might have to adjust in the new regulations, but it is to help our country in a positive way. This act will transform our country so this kind of great financial crisis does not happen again. As this bill is getting through congress and congress gets negotiating and adjusting some of the bill that, once it leave congress it will be a very strong bill that will greatly benefit our economy.

Work Cited

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/a-consumer-bill-gives-exemption-on-payday-loans/

http://www.cftc.gov/ucm/groups/public/@newsroom/documents/speechandtestimony/opagensler-34.pdf

http://www.mortgagebankers.org/tools/FullStory.aspx?ArticleId=11611

http://www.financialreformwatch.com/2010/03/articles/financial-reform/dodd-gets-the-ball-rolling-on-financial-overhaul-unveils-sweeping-legislation/

http://registeredrep.com/advisorland/regulatory/dodd_bill_adopts_year_study_adviser_regs_0315/

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