Is Warren's Financial Product Safety Commission on Tap?

The Washington Post reports that the Obama Administration is actively discussing the creation of a regulatory commission that would have broad authority to protect consumers who use financial products as varied as mortgages, credit cards and mutual funds. The move would require legislation, and would centralize regulatory authority that is currently spread among a group of federal agencies. The proposal is sure to be opposed by financial services industry groups who will continue to argue that such regulation will crimp access to such financial products. Additionally, such a move could intensify political wrangling among existing regulators like the OCC, Fed and SEC as they battle to hold onto legacy powers.

The idea is believed to have sprung from a plan proposed by Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Warren, who now chairs the Congressional Oversight Panel for the US Government's financial rescue initiative. Warren wrote in a 2007 article in the journal Democracy called "Unsafe at Any Rate" that the government had failed to protect American consumers in their relationships with financial companies and that it was now time for a Financial Product Safety Commission.
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The Links:

• WSJ's Gordon Crovitz says that Geithner's focus on disclosure over regulation when it comes to derivatives constitutes smart reform.
• The FT says that the derivatives industry is girding for battle.
• Gillian Tett, author of "Fool's Gold: How the Bold Dream of a Small Tribe at J.P. Morgan was Corrupted by Wall Street Greed and Unleashed a Catastrophe" is out promoting her book. She thinks she has a sense of what Main Street thinks of Wall Street.
• Jamie Dimon speaks out about rules preventing US banks from hiring foreigners.