Geithner Calls for Tightening Derivatives Loopholes

[SpartanDem]

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called for tightening loopholes in U.S. legislation to regulate the $605 trillion over-the-counter derivatives market.

“For this to really work, for us to bring this market out of the dark, to try to make sure we have protections in place against manipulation and fraud, we can’t allow these exceptions to undermine those basic protections,” Geithner said in an interview for Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital With Al Hunt” airing today.

Airlines, energy companies and other end-users that rely on derivatives to protect their businesses against swings in oil and commodities prices would be exempt from most new requirements in House of Representatives bills designed to rein in more speculative trading in the loosely regulated derivatives market. The House legislation is slated for votes next week.

Legislation proposed by Senator Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, offers fewer exceptions.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=axRyBKJcNRlY&pos=2


First, I'm glad that he is pushing this much needed regulation. But I have to ask does he get a bit of a bad rap? If he said the exact opposite this article, which got no attention yesterday, would've been posted in 20 places and HuffPo would've had huge headline about it. I think most will agree he hasn't been perfect, but are we overly focused on the negative to point that anything that doesn't portray him as the devil incarnate is ignored?

[Deja Q]

1. I must agree.

Thank you for posting this.

[PA Democrat]

2. Great sense of urgency there, Timmy.

Why not wait for another total meltdown of the financial system? Sorry, he does not get kudos for waiting a YEAR to even call for regulation.

[neshanic still]

3. Oh Timmy, he is so on the ball with these things.

He's just the BEST. He's so proactive, and so competent!

Will there be a study group? Or will this be paraded as a meeting like the jobs thingy. I hope Disney can be there. Their imput is always needed, be it jobs or instruments of economic destruction like derivatives.

Now I can sleep at night. Timmy is on the watch.

[SpartanDem]

4. The house is going to vote next week on it's reform bill

he is saying there are still too many loopholes in it. Which begs the question if this is so important to you the why didn't you know this? This has been winding it's way though the House Financial Services Cmte for months now.

H.R. 4173, Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009
http://financialservices.house.gov/Key_Issues/Financial_Regulatory_Reform/Financial_Regulatory_Reform.html

[PA Democrat]

9. Why do you assume I did not know?

I have been following the issue. Too many Democrats have been bought off by Wall Street lobbyists.

[SpartanDem]

11. You said this was his first call for regulation

he testified to Congress about this matter throughout the procress of creating this bill. So was I thinking maybe you didn't know that that they were working on a bill.

[PA Democrat]

10. Also, to describe Geithner as "less than perfect" is the understatement of the year.

Sorry, but I don't trust the guy who made the decision through a series of secret negotiations to pay 100 cents on the dollar for AIG's toxic assets with taxpayer money.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a7T5HaOgYHpE

[branders seine]

5. now that we figured out their scam,

they need a new set of rules and loopholes so they can screw us in ways we haven't yet figured out.

[neshanic still]

6. We have a winner.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

7. Ding. Ding.

"tighten" Oh, yay.

[NC_Nurse]

8. But he says we shouldn't have a transaction tax because they'd just find ways

around it...so why bother with this then? He's so FOS like all of these high finance guys.

[Sebastian Doyle]

12. What we need is NOT new regulations, but the old ones restored

The ones that actually WORKED, that FDR set up. And we don't need "federal" reserve whores, Wall Street tools, or refugees from Santa's workshop in charge of any of it.

[meow2u3]

13. Derivatives should be outlawed altogether

IMO, derivatives are tools of organized crime.