WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Congressional Oversight Panel announced today that it will hold a public hearing on regulatory reform of the financial sector on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 in Washington, D.C.   The Panel is in the process of preparing a special report on regulatory reform, and the hearing will provide an opportunity for the Panel members to seek information from a variety of experts on the regulation of the financial industry.   The goal of the hearing will be to achieve a better understanding of current regulations and how the existing regulatory structure contributed to the ongoing financial and mortgage crises in order to determine what, if any, reforms are needed.

The Panel is required by law to produce a special report for Congress on regulatory reform “analyzing the current state of the regulatory system and its effectiveness at overseeing the participants in the financial system and protecting consumers, and providing recommendations for improvement.”  The statute specifically mandates that the Panel examine whether “participants in the financial markets that are currently outside the regulatory system should become subject to the regulatory system... and whether there are any gaps in existing consumer protections.” 

The Panel will hear testimony from experts representing a wide variety of backgrounds, areas of expertise, and political affiliations.

In addition to the hearing, the Panel is encouraging all Americans to pose their own questions, make their own suggestions, and share their personal stories through its website at www.cop.senate.gov.

The Congressional Oversight Panel was created to oversee the expenditure of Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds authorized by Congress in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) and to provide recommendations on regulatory reform.   The Panel members are: Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Richard H. Neiman, Superintendent of Banks for the State of New York, Damon Silvers, Associate General Counsel of the AFL-CIO, former US Senator John E. Sununu (R-NH), and Elizabeth Warren, Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. 

Additional details will be released as soon as they are available.

 

Event Details

Who	Members of the TARP Congressional Oversight Panel
What	Congressional Oversight Panel Hearing on Regulatory Reform
When	Wednesday, January 14, 2009 Time: TBA
Where	TBA