Obama's Financial Regulatory Changes Gain Focus

Obama's Financial Regulatory Changes Gain Focus - 1/23/2009 , Class Action News, Class Action, Securities News, shareholder class action, claim, litigation, securities action, common stock'>

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Obama's Financial Regulatory Changes Gain Focus
Evan Weinberger

Securities Law 360. January 23, 2009
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EXCERPT: The outlines for President Barack Obama's plans for an overhaul of the financial regulatory system are quickly coming into focus barely a week into his administration. One of the first key developments was the Thursday confirmation by the Senate Finance Committee of Timothy F. Geithner as secretary of the treasury, despite Geithner's well-documented and admitted failure to pay Social Security taxes while working at the International Monetary Fund. Geithner is expected to receive full Senate confirmation in the coming days. The next step also came Thursday when Obama's choice to lead the beleaguered U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro, was confirmed in a unanimous Senate vote. In her confirmation hearings, Schapiro sent the clearest signals yet about the direction her SEC will be taking. Schapiro said that under her SEC, oversight of broker-dealers, investment advisers and ratings agencies would increase sharply. […] The tough talk from Geithner and Schapiro has attorneys preparing for stiff new rules. “Brace yourselves, we're going to be in for a massive push on enforcement,” said Asheesh Goel, a partner in Ropes & Gray LLP's litigation department and a member of the firm's securities litigation and government enforcement practice groups. On top of that, Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Richard Shelby, R-Ala., on Thursday introduced a bill that would pump an additional $110 million for the hiring of 500 new FBI agents, 50 new assistant U.S. attorneys and 100 new SEC Enforcement Division employees dedicated to investigating white collar crime. “I think the reinvigoration and re-creation of the SEC is a very positive sign,” said Robert J. Muldoon Jr., a partner in Sherin and Lodgen LLP's litigation department. But, he added, more money does not necessarily mean better actions from the SEC. Personnel is the key, and Muldoon is “very hopeful” about the leadership Obama is putting in place.

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