June 27, 2008

DODD, SHELBY URGE TREASURY, FED, SEC TO WORK WITH CONGRESS ON REGULATORY REFORM EFFORTS

WASHINGTON, DC – Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Richard Shelby (R-AL), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, today sent a letter to the heads of the U.S. Treasury Department, Federal Reserve Board, and Securities and Exchange Commission regarding reports that the agencies are working on an agreement to reform the regulation of U.S. financial institutions.  In the letter, Dodd and Shelby recognize the agencies’ efforts to improve and streamline our regulatory structure, but at the same time advise that any formal agreement among the agencies must not interfere with Congressional efforts to examine the issue. 
“Given the limited authority of the Fed and the SEC to regulate investment banks with primary dealer status, and Congress’s ultimate responsibility for formulating financial regulatory policy, we ask that no action regarding implementation of the [Memorandum of Understanding] be taken before we can determine that it is in the best interests of our nation’s economy and the well being of its citizens,” the letter states.  
 
A copy of the letter is attached.
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