NASAA slams talk of regulatory overhaul

The North American Securities Administrators Association Inc. of Washington voiced strong support for leaving the current regulatory structure for the securities industry alone.
“The millions of investors in this country – for the most part hardworking, middle class citizens, not Wall Street CEOs – deserve a much better justification for a regulatory overhaul if their financial futures are to be placed at risk,” NASAA president and North Dakota securities commissioner Karen Tyler wrote in a Nov. 29 comment letter to the Treasury Department.
Hundreds of comments were filed with Treasury, which is conducting a broad review of the regulatory structure of financial institutions.
Comments filed included a suggestion by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association of New York and Washington that the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission be consolidated.
Parts of the insurance industry also reiterated a long-standing request for the option of being federally regulated, instead of remaining regulated solely by the 50 states.
NASAA refuted the opinion often expressed by many in the financial services industry that the U.S. is losing competitiveness because of regulatory overload.
Both 2006 and 2007 “have been record years for global [initial public offering] activity,” NASAA said in its letter.

Related Topics: North American Securities Administrators Association Inc (NASAA)