Let it crash

I don't, so why do should I care?

Virginia Republican Tom Davis, who supports the administration's program, said Paulson ``had a tough audience'' because ``there is a huge credibility problem with this administration.''

So...we are all losing a lot of our savings right now, and I feel very sad for folk retiring right now.

The reason the market is crashing is simple. Leading edge baby boomers rejected everything their parents taught them. That and the fact we have a Dem-led congress filled with the dumbest bunch of loons that ever walked the earth. Hippies are knee-jerk loving douchebags. Welcome to the world I've been warning you about.

Foxfyre wrote:

applicable regulatory agencies

who would that be? My understanding is that there are no regulatory agencies charged with the oversight you're talking about for this industry.

BANKS
The United States banking environment is subject to a host of rules and regulations issued by variousregulatory and enforcement agencies. US Federal bank regulatory agencies include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Fed), the US Treasury Department’’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). In addition, regulation comes from states themselves - with emphasis on the four states with the largest number of foreign bank offices: New York, California, Illinois and Florida.

US regulation impacting banks is complex and far-reaching - a sample includes The International Banking Act of 1978; The Foreign Bank Supervision Enhancement Act of 1991; The Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994; The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999; The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001; the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) of 1970, and The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Organizations find it a challenge to avoid US regulatory issues within the banking sector. The best way to prevent issues is through: (1) instituting an effective top-down, risk-based program to ensure compliance with BSA/AML/OFAC/Other US regulation; (2) be aware and adequately respond to current issues within the banking sector; and (3) properly investigate and remediate identified deficiencies in your organization.
https://www.10ainvestigation.com/sites/detail.asp?market=91&id=42

RESPONSIBLE FOR THE STOCK MARKET & INSTITUTIONS THAT RUN IT

Congress
Congress is the top dog when it comes to who is regulating the US stock markets. Congress has passed most major laws associated with US stock exchanges; such as the Securities Act of 1933 and, more recently, the Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002 (more commonly known as the ‘‘Sarbanes-Oxley’’ Act after the Congressmen who sponsored the act).

In addition to setting the laws by which the US stock exchanges are regulated, Congress also has overall control of the budget of Securities and Exchange Commission and other federal and other associated agencies.

The Securities and Exchange Commission
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the top regulatory body overseeing the US stock markets. The SEC registers all new securities being listed on US stock markets and manages, ensures, and enforces that US listed corporations submit their filings in a timely manner.

The SEC can also veto any application submitted to issue securities on the US stock markets.

National Association of Securities Dealers
Following the SEC in the regulatory pecking order is the National Association of Securities Dealers. The National Association of Securities Dealers is a self-regulatory body that oversees the practices of securities dealers. In the event that any securities dealer passes the National Association’’s examination, they’’ll be issued a license to sell securities. Conversely, if any securities dealer is seen to have acted improperly, the National Association can revoke or suspend the dealer’’s license.

State Legislators
Although they may not feel that they are so low down in the pecking order of who regulates US stock markets, it is a commonly held belief that State legislators are next in line. In most cases, state legislators regulate how securities may be sold in their state "" and this is especially true if the issuing entity is registered in that State.
Brokerage Houses

Last in the long line of authorities who regulate the US stock markets are the brokerage houses themselves. Most brokerage houses have a good reputation that they need to keep of they want to stay in business. As such, many have in place internal regulations and rules that are as strict, if not stricter, than the rules set by all of the above regulators.
http://www.a-z-stock-brokers.com/regulators.html

Again, I could be wrong but my understanding is that investment banks are not regulated as "banks" nor are they dealing in securities that fall under the SEC. At least this is what the men at the table told the Senators at yesterday's hearing. Apparently, there is a "voluntary" program that allows investment banks to participate in sharing their info with the SEC but few chose to do so.

Investment bank: Investment banks help companies and governments raise money by issuing and selling securities in the capital markets (both equity and debt securities) and provide advice on transactions such as mergers and acquisitions. Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch were investment banks. Recent market turmoil has heightened fears investment banks, which rely heavily on short-term borrowing to finance their trading and lending businesses, need to find a more stable base of funds to ride out market volatility.

Thrift: Savings banks and savings and loan associations (S&Ls) are known as thrift institutions. Like commercial banks, thrifts are depository institutions, meaning they accept customer deposits. Thrifts traditionally have taken savings, time and demand deposits as their primary liability, and made most of their income from loaning deposits out as mortgages. Seattle-based Washington Mutual, which has lost billions and seen its shares plummet due to subprime mortgage exposure, is the largest savings and loan in the country.

Banking regulators: Different kinds of banks are regulated by different agencies.


The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency regulates banks that have the word "National" in their name or the letters "N.A."


The Federal Reserve oversees large bank holding companies and some state-chartered banks.


The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. regulates most small, state-chartered community banks with assets and deposits less than $1 billion.


The Office of Thrift Supervision oversees federal savings and loans and federal savings banks.


The Securities and Exchange Commission regulates investment banks.

Consumer protections: Bank deposits are protected, up to a point, by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC); brokerage accounts are protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corp. (SIPC).

FDIC: Insures checking, savings and certificates of deposit, or CD's, up to $100,000 for regular accounts and up to $250,000 for retirement accounts. The insurance applies to accounts in FDIC member banks, including commercial banks and thrifts. The FDIC does not protect stocks, bonds or mutual funds, even if they were sold by an FDIC insured institution.

SIPC: A nonprofit organization whose members consist of brokerage firms, the SIPC's goal is to provide protection against loss to customers resulting from the failure of broker-dealers. It does not, however, insure against decreases in value of a particular stock or investment.
http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business-10/1221798386111660.xml&coll=1

If they did say that, that would fly in the face of everything I've ever been taught.

Good point.

Latest proposals seem to be $150 billion rather than $700 billion, meanwhile -- still a hefty chunk of change but a little less staggering.