Statement Regarding The Future of Financial Services Regulation

STATEMENT

Print Version-Statement Regarding The Future of Financial Services Regulation

The Future of Financial Services Regulation

Statement of Congressman Mike Capuano
House Committee on Financial Services

October 21, 2008

In recent weeks, Congress has taken significant actions to address the immediate needs of the economy. While it will take time for those measures to work and impact our financial markets, Congress must begin examining the causes and long-term solutions to this crisis without delay. I believe, as I have stated in the past, that our current financial problems are primarily due to a lack of modern regulation and a lack of enforcement of the regulations we do have. Existing regulations are just not sufficient to address the reality of today's financial services industry."

I thank Chairman Frank for calling today's hearing and continuing the necessary review of our regulatory framework. The issue of regulatory reform is one that I have personally identified and pushed for years in Congress. There is no question that we must have a renewed focus on this issue in light of the current economic situation. Future regulation must be comprehensive and meaningful. It must close loopholes and fill the voids that have led us to this point of economic crisis. At the same time, it is important that as we engage in this review, our steps be deliberate, thoughtful, and balanced. Rushing through reactive measures can miss important aspects of the problem and potentially create overly burdensome regulations that push the pendulum too far to the other side.

I look forward to the testimony from all of today's witnesses as we go through this process of reviewing what works, how the existing framework should be altered and how much additional regulation is now necessary to provide the transparency and oversight that has been so clearly lacking.