Financial Regulation Bill H.R. 4173

Text from email to my Congressional Representative regarding financial reform:


I am aware of the H.R. 4173 legislation's recent passage and am pleased that some regulatory reform is underway. It has been noted that the legislation has a substantial loophole regarding the derivatives. It also does little to curb the advantages achieved by too-big-to-fail institutions that can use the federal regulatory framework to get excepted from state laws that affect smaller banking institutions. Not too mention the moral hazard in large institutions with access to federal funds at low rates and the capacity to engage in speculative trading. In all, the casino culture of large banks may not be effectively curbed by the passed legislation.  



I strongly urge you to seriously consider additional measures that separate deposit and investment banks, that prohibits federal exceptions to state regulations regarding banks, and that all derivatives trades be regulated and performed in a transparent electronic market. The risks to the country's economic future lie in the hands of speculators and institutions that insist on gaming the system for profit rather than providing innovation with useful value.  


We will continue in our boom-bust cycles for a very long time if further necessary reforms of the economic system and framework are not enacted and enforced. Too-big-to-fail institutions must be broken up and be made transparent (regulators all too often pick on small banks because their balance sheets are smaller and easier to understand, but since the government regulators can't wrap their heads around the biggest banks' balance sheets, too-big-to-fail institutions are not properly regulated.)  


This is a very serious problems with huge trickle down consequences that I'm sure are obvious to you as a representative of ordinary Americans who suffer from the effects of the incessant search for profit. Unemployment and poverty can only get worse if the money supply is being diverted into the pockets of bankers and financial behemoths. I count on you as do all of your constituents (whether they realize it or not.) Please continue to do the right thing and continue passing legislations that puts the interests of the people of this country before that of the private banking sector.