Major makeover of Wall Street regs passes House

[MellowOne]

Source: Yahoo finance

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House passed the most ambitious restructuring of federal financial regulations since the New Deal on Friday, aiming to head off any replay of last year's Wall Street failures that plunged the nation deep into recession.

The sprawling legislation would give the government new powers to break up companies that threaten the economy, create a new agency to oversee consumer banking transactions and shine a light into shadow financial markets that have escaped the oversight of regulators.

The vote was a party-line 223-202. No Republicans voted for the bill; 27 Democrats voted against it.

While a victory for the administration, the legislation dilutes some of President Barack Obama's recommendations, carving out exceptions to some of its toughest provision. The burden now shifts to the Senate, which is not expected to act on its version of a regulatory overhaul until early next year.

The president praised the House action Friday, and called on Congress to act swiftly to get the bill to the White House for his signature.

Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/House-passes-broad-Wall-apf-4156947868.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=

[Seedersandleechers]

1. The senate will kill

the damn bill. So fucking what!

[Sunnyshine]

2. If it provides for even 1/2 of the oversight power to regulate- as needed for like- for forever-

Congress must get it to his desk asap. We can work on getting heavier regulation in coming years- even though we really need them immediately. Damn, me thinks Wall St would probably crash if we did all that needed to be done to interfere and set the U.S. on the truest path for a future economy of sustainable growth. And we know in reality it will not come until after 2010 elections. Uh, still not happy with the gaps and holes. As always- Wall St. still manages to avert disaster as regulating them is always a patch job anyway.

[DURHAM D]

3. Its smoke and mirrors. Move on. nt

[ProSense]

4. Congressman Grayson's statement

GRAYSON CRACKS DOWN ON WALL STREET

December 11, 2009 2:40 PM (Washington, DC) – Congressman Grayson voted today for H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. With this bill, the House of Representatives took a major step to address the problems that caused the so-called “Great Recession.”

Congressman Grayson said, “As the saying goes, ‘Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.’ We are emerging from a severe recession that was on the verge of a depression. This bill aims to prevent that, and that’s why we needed to pass it.”

The bill includes the Paul-Grayson amendment, which calls for the first independent audit of the Federal Reserve in the 96-year history of the central bank. Congressman Grayson teamed with Rep. Ron Paul to push for the “Audit The Fed” legislation. Congressman Grayson discovered that the Federal Reserve has conducted secret bailouts that range in the hundreds of billions of dollars since 2008. The bill grants authority to the non-partisan General Accountability Office to conduct the audit. “Exposing how the Federal Reserve operates is a crucial component to any meaningful reform. We need to find out what they’ve done and then we can figure out how to respond,” Congressman Grayson said.

Among the other highlights of the bill are:

• Consumer Protection - Creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency to protect Americans from unfair financial products and services
  
• Ending Taxpayer-funded Bailouts and Preventing the Rise of Institutions that are “Too Big to Fail”
  
• Executive Compensation Regulation - Gives shareholders a “say on pay” advisory vote on executive compensation and golden parachutes
  
• Investor Protections - Strengthens the SEC’s powers so that it can better protect investors and regulate the nation’s securities markets
  
• Regulation of Derivatives
  
• Creation of Office of Insurance - Creates a Federal Insurance Office that will monitor all aspects of the insurance industry, including identifying issues or gaps in the regulation of insurers that could contribute to a systemic crisis and undermine the entire financial system.

“Regarding the financial collapse, all the other bills treated the symptoms. This is the first bill that treats the disease,” Congressman Grayson added.