In a soon to be released book called Guardians of Finance, James Barth of the Milken Institute, Gerard Caprio of Williams College and Ross Levine of Brown University -- all former regulators -- say that global financial regulators have proved to be an insignificant impediment to known or knowable problems. The authors argue that complex financial products, which often get the rap for having triggered the current economic crisis, cannot have been its root cause since countries like Ireland and Spain, where financial innovation were not big factors, have also suffered severely through inadequate oversight of their financial industries. As a solution, they propose a new institution, called the Sentinel, which would have the power to access any information needed to evaluate financial regulation, and would have the duty to deliver an annual report to the president and Congress about the soundness of banks, securities firms, insurance companies and ratings agenciesm as well as issues such as executive compensation.
Who Will Regulate the Regulators? (AdvisorOne)
By Staff Writer
February 2, 2012 • Reprints
