Two key US lawmakers promised President Barack Obama on Monday they would work with the White House to enact a sweeping overhaul of US financial regulatory structures by year's end.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, both Democrats, wrote to Obama after US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pushed last week for major reforms.
Support from the two Congressional heavyweights will be critical to Obama's efforts to overhaul US financial supervision.
“We write today to reiterate our commitment to work together on a bicameral basis with your administration to enact legislation by the end of the year to create a new, more robust regulatory framework to enhance financial stability and protect investors and consumers in the 21st century,” they wrote.
The lawmakers pledged “to act expeditiously, carefully, and deliberately” to ensure “more effective supervision and regulation” and they agreed with the “core principles” that Geithner laid out on Thursday.
They also vowed to work “with other major financial centers” around the world to coordinate efforts and minimize the likelihood that any new rules could hurt US competitiveness.
Dodd and Frank also said they favored “comprehensive reform of the corporate governance and executive compensation of financial institutions” after a bonus controversy at bailed-out insurer AIG.
Geithner on Thursday unveiled broad reform proposals covering banks and other financial firms as well as hedge funds, money market funds and the more complex derivative market, drawing on lessons learned from the global financial meltdown.
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