S.E.C. Chief Says Deregulation Fueled Crisis

[FreeStateDemocrat]

Source: NYTimes



By STEPHEN LABATON
Published: September 26, 2008
WASHINGTON— Christopher Cox, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and a longtime proponent of deregulation, acknowledged on Friday that the voluntary supervisory program of Wall Street’s largest investment banks had contributed to the global financial crisis and abruptly shut the program down.

The agency’s oversight responsibilities will largely shift to the Federal Reserve.

The commission’s inspector general, in a report also released on Friday, strongly criticized the agency’s performance in monitoring Bear Stearns before it collapsed in March. Mr. Cox said he agreed that the oversight program was “fundamentally flawed from the beginning.”

“The last six months have made it abundantly clear that voluntary regulation does not work,” Mr. Cox said in a statement. The program “was fundamentally flawed from the beginning, because investment banks could opt in or out of supervision voluntarily,” he added. “The fact that investment bank holding companies could withdraw from this voluntary supervision at their discretion diminished the perceived mandate” of the program, and “weakened its effectiveness.”

The commission’s decision to end the regulatory program was somewhat academic. The five biggest independent Wall Street firms have all disappeared. The Fed and the Treasury Department forced Bear Stearns into a merger with JPMorgan Chase in March. And in the last month, Lehman Brothers went into bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch was acquired by Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs changed their corporate structure to become bank holding companies, which the Fed regulates.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/business/27sec.html

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No shit! But I'm glad to see the asswipes have to eat their own bullshit.

[FreakinDJ]

1. Ya Think !!!!

[Dissent Is Patriotic]

2. Oh, he got my memo then. n/t

[BlueInPhilly]

3. Cox better be careful!

McPain would fire his ass!

[maddezmom]

4. a little payback for McCan't calling for him to be fired

or resign or whatever.... :shrug:

[Frisbee]

8. That was my 1st thought, too.... n/t

[speedoo]

5. Rut roh. McLame's gonna fire ya fershur now, Chris. nt

[KewlKat]

6. Duh nt

[Baby Snooks]

7. We knew this in 2001

We knew this in 2001 when Enron collapsed and Enron is a perfect example still because the wife of the man who made this all possible served on the board of Enron. And that man of course still advises John McCain.

Phil Gramm is sitting somewhere shooting the bird at Christopher Cox and at everyone else. Phil Gramm talks. And John McCain listens.

Scary to think about what will happen if John McCain becomes president simply because it is scary to think about Phil Gramm advising him on economic policy.

[texanshatingbush]

9. Phil Gramm......

....scary to think of him becoming Secretary of the Treasury, too.

Man, how come my home state has produced such a crop of craven Repuke shitheads lately?
+Phil Gramm
+Tom DeLay
+John Cornyn
+Chimpy McFlightsuit
My abject apologies to the world.

[teknomanzer]

21. They say everything is bigger in Texas...

maybe your asshole politicians are just bigger too.

[llmart]

10. Better yet...

Hell, I knew it was a bad idea back when Reagan began the mantra of deregulation.

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. No wonder McCain wants him fired.

[pleah]

12. No fucking shit!

Jeezus! What the fuck? I cannot believe people are this fucking dense. Shit, I'm just a little old stay-at-home mom, and I'm smart enough to have figured that out a long time ago! These bastards are really pissing me off!:nuke: :grr: :mad: :nuke: :grr: :mad:

[Hannah Bell]

13. They're not that dense. WE'RE that dense, when we accept the explanation of "stupidity".

It's purposeful.

[sarcasmo]

14. Stater of the obvious award goes to Christopher Cox.

[sarcasmo]

15. self delete

[sarcasmo]

self delete

[sarcasmo]

16. self delete

[sarcasmo]

17. Self Delete

[Laelth]

18. Esteemed scientist says water is wet.

Thanks for the tip, Mr. Cox.

-Laelth

[Karenina]

19. . .

[Bandit]

20. abundantly clear that voluntary regulation does not work,”

Apply this to air polution as well and eliminate Bush*'s "Clean Air Inniative"

[teknomanzer]

22. Breaking news!

Casual observer reports that the fox may not be so good at maintaining the security of the hen house.

[mbperrin]

23. Anything ELSE from the "NO SHIT" file, Chris?

Okay, then, time for a commercial break with our sponsor, TERROR LEECHES!

Until THESE leeches unleash terror, you've never seen it! And now, new improved FINANCIAL terror!

In the big economy box. Back to you, Chris.