Rescue package means more oversight in 2009

By Staff Writer

Commentary October 06, 2008 at 08:00 PM

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Complex derivatives and hedge funds could face federal supervision for the first time, and heavily regulated sectors, such as banking and insurance, are likely to face greater oversight in 2009.

Christopher S. Rugaber writes for the Associated Press, "With the passage of the $700 billion rescue package, the financial industry will face greater congressional scrutiny in coming weeks and months … Having passed the bailout bill, Congress is now shifting its attention to its next steps."

According to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the Financial Services Committee chairman, there will indeed be more regulation next year. Congress, he tells the AP, will seek to overhaul housing policy and financial regulation.

"We were the EMTs rushing to the rescue of an economy that suddenly found itself choking, but now we have to perform more serious reform," Frank says.

Hearings begin Monday that will examine the failures of current regulations. According to the Associated Press, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., will hold two hearings on the causes and effects of Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy and on the $85 billion bailout of the giant insurer American International Group Inc. The committee will hold three more hearings this month on hedge funds, credit rating agencies and the role of regulators in the run-up to the crisis, and Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has been invited to testify at the third hearing.

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