Administration Releases Its Plan For Strengthening Financial System Stability And Regulation

President Obama, on June 17, 2009, following in the footsteps of Treasury Departments going back a half century, announced his Administration's plan to improve the effectiveness of the federal regulatory structure. Treasury released the plan in the form of a Treasury paper entitled "A New Foundation: Rebuilding Financial Supervision and Regulation."

Among the factors that it identifies as contributing to the current economic turmoil are:

• Ill-defined regulatory responsibility regarding systemic threats.

• Inadequate supervision of large financial organizations.

• Inadequate attention to the protection of consumer interests.

Among the most significant elements of the plan are the following.