Regulatory revamping ambitious, lawmakers say Democrats focus on immediate effort to stave off foreclosures
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Democrats, Mortgage News April 1st, 2008WASHINGTON — A far-reaching proposal to revamp the nation’s financial regulatory apparatus was called ambitious, bold and thoughtful yesterday by Ohio lawmakers and analysts.
But they also agreed the Bush administration plan is simply a good first step, one that will launch an extended, perhaps years-long debate over how to overhaul financial regulations that still mainly hail from Depression-era laws.
Regardless, Ohio will remain at the epicenter of a mortgage foreclosure and housing slump crisis as Democrats and Republicans argue, with the presidential campaign as a backdrop, over how much immediate aid to lend to both struggling Wall Street investment banks and Main Street homeowners.
Senate Democrats will try again to pass a bill this week that would allow bankruptcy judges to reset mortgage interest rates for millions of homeowners trying to ward off foreclosure, a move the Bush administration has opposed.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s plan would merge several federal agencies that oversee financial services, move closer to federal regulation of the insurance industry and give the Federal Reserve more authority over financial services. It seeks to create a federal Mortgage Origination Commission to set national licensing standards for mortgage brokers. Congress would have to approve all major aspects of the proposal.
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Tags: Democrats, Mortgage News
