Testifying before the Senate Budget Committee, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the administration’s plans for revamping oversight of the financial services industry will soon be made public.
"We have begun a process of consultation with the relevant committees. I'm testifying in the House on the 26th of March,” Geithner said. “Before that we plan to lay out a set of relatively detailed concrete proposals to address just this issue.”
There will no doubt be a good deal of interest to see how the Obama plan will comport with versions of reform articulated by legislators. House Financial Services Committee Barney Frank (D. – Mass.) has recently advocated a federal charter solely for life insurers. Additionally, reps. Melissa Bean (D. – Ill.) and Ed Royce (R. – Calif.) are set to introduce the National Insurance Modernization Act, which may mandate that insurers who pose a systemic risk come under federal regulation.
