Democracy Now: Admin Backs Off Consumer Agency, Trading Curbs
The Washington Post is reporting the Obama administration will no longer insist on establishing an independent consumer protection agency as part of an overhaul of financial regulation. White House officials are said to be considering proposals to place the agency inside a different government department, like the Treasury. Top Democrats are also reportedly preparing to drop the administration’s call for limits on the practice known as proprietary trading, in which commercial banks trade financial securities from their own commercial accounts. Former Federal Reserve chair Paul Volcker had proposed the curbs to help undo some of the damage of the 1999 repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, which had ensured the separation of commercial and investment banking.
