The global financial crisis has changed fundamentally the terms of the debate about financial market regulation. Financial and business leaders have stopped urging policymakers to unshackle Wall Street and let markets police themselves. Now, the focus of the national discussion is on making the U.S. regulatory system stronger, more comprehensive and geared more to protecting investors.
As a leading voice for long-term, patient capital, the Council strongly supports this shift. Council members have endorsed the report and recommendations of the Investors’ Working Group, "U.S. Financial Regulatory Reform: The Investors' Perspective." The report calls on Congress and the administration to strengthen and reinvigorate existing regulatory agencies, close gaps in regulation, improve corporate governance of U.S. public companies and create a federal systemic risk oversight board.
The Council welcomes the wide-ranging efforts by the Obama administration and Congress to overhaul and improve the U.S. system of financial market regulation. In particular, the Council supports measures designed to strengthen corporate governance, enhance the oversight and accountability of credit rating agencies, establish meaningful regulation of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives and bolster the resources and independence of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Council also believes that the independence of the accounting standards-setting process must be preserved and opposes measures that would let bank regulators override financial accounting and reporting standards developed by independent authorities.
Please click on the links below to read the Council’s perspective on its reform priorities:
- Corporate Governance
- Credit Rating Agencies
- OTC Derivatives
- Resources and Independence of the SEC
- Independence of Financial and Accounting Reporting Standards
To view the many comment letters that he Council has filed on regulatory reform proposals with the House, Senate, Treasury Dept, Federal Reserve and other federal agencies, please visit the Correspondence page.