Financial Regulatory Reform Revs Up In Washington

Sweeping regulatory reform of the financial sector is about to get rolling in Washington, beginning Tuesday with the influential report of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, a non-partisan research group co-chaired by R. Glenn Hubbard, dean of Columbia Business School, who chaired Pres. George W. Bush council of economic advisors.

“There’s so many different players and everyone is jumping into the debate,” says Ariella Herman, an associate at Turner GPA, who follows legislative affairs “There’s a lot of pressure to get something done before the end of the year.”

And it may take that long, say more than a few analysts and players, because the legislation will be forged amid historic circumstances with the unequivocal support of the President. The legislation will also have enormous ramifications for the country and the global economy.

“It’s extremely complicated,” says William Isaac, former chairman of the FDIC. “We have been trying to reform structure in the US since the 1930s. There are some very powerful vested interests [both in and out of government] and they don’t want change they can’t control.”

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