20 November 2007

US Financial Services Roundtable calls for principles-based regulation

The Financial Services Roundtable uunveiled the Blueprint for U.S. Financial Competitiveness, a plan of action which seeks to ensure that the U.S. maintains a competitive position in the global financial marketplace through principles-based regulation; eight "must do" reforms; and modernized charters and new national charter options.

Within the past year, three reports on U.S. financial competitiveness-including the Bloomberg-Schumer Report-have called for a system of principles- based regulation. Last March, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said, "[W]e should also consider whether it would be practically possible and beneficial to move to a more principles-based regulatory system as we see working in other parts of the world."

"The Blueprint is a call for better regulation, not a call for less regulation," said Steve Bartlett, President and CEO of The Financial Services Roundtable. "Our proposed reforms and specific recommendations are intended to serve and protect consumers, promote economic growth, job creation, and market stability through a combination of better regulation and the enhanced competitiveness of the financial services industry."

The Blueprint targets eight specific policy areas where principles-based financial regulation could be implemented to achieve better policy and regulatory outcomes for financial services firms and the consumers they serve. They are prudential supervision, litigation reform, consumer credit and opportunities for long-term financial security, anti-money laundering, risk- based capital regulation, insurance regulation, Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Section 404), and U.S. and international accounting standards.

The Blueprint also endorses charter choice for financial firms, a key component of which is the modernization of existing depository institution charters. This would involve removing outdated restrictions and impediments to competition.

In addition, The Blueprint calls for the creation of three new national charter options for financial services firms: an optional national insurance charter, an optional national securities charter, and an optional universal financial services charter.

Letter to Henry Paulson

Blueprint – Executive summary

Blueprint – Full report

© Graham Bishop